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CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

REVISED EDITION 




Reproduced by Special Permission 



Copyright by Yale Studio 

DR. A. T. STILL AT AGE OF EIGHTY- SIX 

FOUNDER OF OSTEOPATHY 

" / love my fellow man because I see God in his face and in his form.'^ 



CONCERNING 

OSTEOPATHY 

A COMPILATION OF SELECTION FROM ARTICLES 

PUBLISHED IN THE PROFESSIONAL AND LAY 

PRESS WITH ORIGINAL CHAPTERS 



BY 

GEORGE V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



AND SPECIAL ARTICLES BY MEMBERS OF 
THE PROFESSION 



ILLUSTRATED 



1917 






COPYRIGHT, I9IO, I915, 1917 
BY GEORGE V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



/ 



MAR -7i9l7 



THE 'PLIMPTON 'PRESS 
NORWOOD • MASS • U • S • A 



©G!A-i57315 
I 



TO HIM 
TO WHOM HEALTH IS WEALTH 
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED 



PREFACE 

THE purpose of this volume is to reflect the 
position occupied by Osteopathy as a system 
of therapy. Osteopathy is the name apphed to 
that school of practice of the healing art which 
has developed as the result of the theories and 
discoveries of Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. The 
two basic theories, first propounded by Dr. Still, 
and forming the tenets upon which the osteopathic 
school rests are: first, the theory of the mechani- 
cal legion as a cause of disease; and, second, the 
theory that the normal chemical body is practi- 
cally immune. 

Osteopathy has so demonstrated its usefulness 
to mankind that a spirit of inquiry has been 
aroused as to just what Osteopathy is, what it 
has done and what may be expected of it. With 
a view to preparing a volume which may in a 
measure provide the information desired, these 
pages have been arranged. 

Little originality of text has been attempted, 
but, rather, in the review of the osteopathic 
literature that^as appeared from time to time 
in the professional and other publications, an 
effort has been made to select such articles as 
seem appropriate for this volume. These, in 

[7] 



PREFACE 



some instances rearranged and condensed to omit 
technicalities, have been compiled in a more or 
less logical order, giving the history of Osteopathy, 
its development as a science, an exposition of its 
theories, some of its practical workings and 
something concerning its founder. Dr. Andrew 
Taylor Still. 

Acknowledgment is here made of the courtesy 
of the several publishers for the permission granted 
to select from their pages such articles and quota- 
tions as appear in this book. Where possible, 
credit has been given both to author and to 
publication. 

I am indebted to Drs. J. Deason, C. M. Hulett 
and R. Kendrick Smith for contributing original 
chapters; to Drs. Asa Willard, Carl P. McCon- 
nell, M. F. Hulett, R. H. Williams and R. E. 
Hamilton for revision of chapters; to Drs. Mina 
Abbott Robinson, Roberta Wimer-Ford and E. 
E. Tucker for revision of articles, and to many 
other professional friends for valuable aid and 
suggestions relative to the revision. 

G. V. WEBSTER 
Carthage, N. Y. 
February 1, 1917 



[8] 



J 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Osteopathy and Truth. A. T. Still, M.D., D.O. . . 13 

History of Osteopathy. Asa Willard, D.O 17 

How I Came to Originate Osteopathy. A. T. Still, 

M.D., D.O 27 

What Osteopathy Is. Carl P. McConnell, D.O. . . 41 
The Point of Departure Between Osteopathy and 

Medicine. E. E. Tucker, D.O 49 

Disease From an Osteopathic Viewpoint. M. F. 

HuLETT, B.S., D.O 65 

What Osteopathic Lesions Are. G. M. Laughlin, 

M.S.D., D.O 77 

Manner of Treatment. G. V. Webster, D.O. ... 83 
A Differentiation: 

Differences Between Osteopathy and Massage. A. T. 

Still, M.D., D.O 93 

An Illustration. Asa Willard, D.O 94 

Scientific Proofs of Osteopathy. G. V. Webster, D.O. 99 
A Summary of Osteopathic Research Work. J. 

Deason, M.S., D.O 113 

The Osteopathic Education: 

Osteopathy, A Distinct School. C. P. McConnell, 

D.O 121 

Osteopathic Teaching. C. C. Teall, D.O 122 

The Osteopathic Curriculum. R. H. Williams, D.O. 124 
Application of Osteopathic Principles. G. V. Web- 
ster, D.O. . ^ 133 

Diseases of the Nervous System 134 

Diseases of the Digestive System 136 

Diseases of the Respiratory System 138 

Diseases of the Circulatory System 140 

Diseases of the Kidney 143 

Diseases of the Pelvic Organs 144 

[9] 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Diseases of the Skin 147 

Acute Infectious Diseases 148 

Diseases of the Eye and Ear 150 

Constitutional Diseases 153 

The Growth of Osteopathy. A. G. Hildreth, D.O.. 159 

Osteopathic Specialists. R. Kendrick Smith, D.O. . 167 

Osteopathic Institutions. C. M. T. Hulett, D.O. . 179 
Osteopathy and Surgery. Geo. A. Still, M.S., M.D., 

D.O 185 

How Osteopathy Treats the Blood. C. P. McCon- 

nell, D.O 191 

Osteopathy and the Germ Theory. R. E. Hamilton, 

M.Ph., D.O 199 

The Value of Osteopathy to the Child. Mina Abbott 

Robinson, D.O 209 

Woman and Osteopathy. Roberta Wimer-Ford, D.O. 213 
Osteopathy a Preventive of Disease. G. V. Webster, 

D.O 219 

A Delicate Question — Life 227 

The Results of Osteopathic Practice. G. V. Webster, 

D.O 231 

Osteopathy in the Future. Russell Duane .... 237 



illustrations 

Dr. Andrew Taylor Still Frontispiece 

Osteopathic Hospital and School at Kirksville, Mo. 35 

The a. T, Still Research Institute 115 

Cottage in which Osteopathy was first Taught . . . 161 

Still-Hildreth Sanatorium 181 

The ^'Old Doctor" Studying the Femur 221 



[10] 



OSTEOPATHY AND TRUTH 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 

From an address by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still delivered on his 
eightieth birthday. 



I am sure that no man of brilliant mind can 
pass this milepost and not hitch his team and 
do some precious loading. 

— A. T. Still 



X 



Osteopathy is the knowledge of the structure, 
relation and function of each part of the 
human body applied to the adjustment or 
correction of whatever interferes with the 
harmonious operation of the same. 

— G. V. Webster, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY AND TRUTH 

BY ANDREW TAYLOR STILL, M.D., D.O. 



WHLE for years I fought the battles of 
Osteopathy alone, meeting great opposi- 
tion and vilification, I knew I had the truth and 
that the truth was immortal and that some day 
the principles of Osteopathy would be hailed with 
gladness throughout the earth. The principles 
are in harmony with the great laws of God as seen 
in Nature. Osteopathy deals with the body as 
a perfect machine, which, if kept in proper ad- 
justment, nourished and cared for, will run 
smoothly into ripe and useful old age. As long 
as the human machine is in order, like the locomo- 
tive or any other mechanical product, it will 
perform the function which it should. When 
every part of the machine is correctly adjusted 
and in perfect harmony, health will hold dominion 
over the human organisn^by laws as natural and 
immutable as the laws of gravity. Every living 
organism has within it the power to manufacture 
and prepare all chemicals and forces needed to 
build and rebuild itself. No material other than 
nutritious food taken into the system in proper 

[13] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

quality and quantity can be introduced from the 
outside without detriment. A proper adjustment 
of the bony framework and the soft structures of 
man's anatomical mechanism means good diges- 
tion, nutrition and circulation, health and happi- 
ness. 

Osteopathy is not a theory, but a demonstrated 
fact. You may say there are some failures. 
Yes, who would not expect it? We are called 
to treat people who have been poisoned and 
diseased beyond the possibility of anything 
except a little temporary relief. Or perhaps the 
Osteopath is not able to apply the knowledge he 
should have gained before being granted a diploma 
from an osteopathic school. This reflects no 
more upon the science of Osteopathy than does 
the farmer who fails upon the science of farming. 
Again many are looking for miracles and are 
disappointed when a few treatments fail to bring 
wonted strength and vigor. 



[14] 



HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



The philosopher begins an ignorant man, knows 
this to be his condition and uses the many 
methods that occur to his mind to better his 
condition by a knowledge of demonstrated 
truths. 

— A. T. Still 



X 



The starting point of medicine is further back 
in history; the starting point of Osteopathy is 
further back in Nature. 

— E. E. Tucker, D.O. 



HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY 

BY ASA WILLARD, D.O. 



THE early history of Osteopathy is the history 
of one man, its founder, Dr. A. T. Still. 
Its principles were first put forth by him in 1874. 

Dr. Still was a regular practising physician 
and during the war, an army surgeon. He was 
born in Virginia, his father being a minister. 
The family moved west and Dr. Still, during his 
early life, experienced all the perils and hardships 
of pioneer life. 

Dr. Still was always of an observing, investigat- 
ing turn of mind. An incident illustrative of this 
is told of his boyhood days. After playing hard, 
he was often troubled with a headache. One day 
he lay down under the swing tree, with the back 
of his neck slung in the swing rope which almost 
touched the ground. He fell asleep. When he 
awoke, he found that his headache was gone. 
They usually lasted him a good while and he got 
to thinking of it. After that when he had a 
headache, he went to the swing rope. Of course, 
all he knew about the procedure then or for years 
afterward was that the headache stopped. The 

[17] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

treatment, however, was rational and its results 
can be explained physiologically. The pressure 
of the rope simply caused the tissue at the back of 
the skull to relax and allow the congesting blood 
to flow from the head. 

In the early seventies. Dr. Still had three children 
die from spinal meningitis, in spite of the employ- 
ment of every means known to medical science at 
that time. This experience seemed to thoroughly 
confirm him in the view that something was 
lacking in the accepted mode of treating disease. 
He began devoting almost his whole time to the 
study of the human body and investigating along 
lines that suggested themselves to him. He 
dissected animals and dug the bones from old 
Indian graves to get material for his study. His 
^^bag of bones'' came to be a joke throughout 
that part of Kansas, in which state the Still family 
then lived. 

In his autobiography, he says of his study of 
the body of man, ''By the use of the knife and the 
microscope I have traced for these many years 
the wonderful and perfect work therein found, 
carefully inspecting every fiber, gland and all 
parts of the brain; I have observed the construc- 
tion of the parts and their uses.'' 

Great thoughts do not come spontaneously, 
but the basic idea may, after years of study, 
come in a moment to the investigator. In 1874 

[18] 



HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY 

Dr. Still grasped the pivotal truth of Osteopathy 
and that year he calls the birth year of the science. 
He began devoting his whole time to the develop- 
ment of his science and as he did so he experienced 
that derision and ridicule which have always 
been the lot of those whose discoveries have 
meant radical departure from the established 
ideas. 

When, in the seventeenth century, Harvey 
discovered and proclaimed how the blood circu- 
lated from the heart through arteries and veins, 
he was designated as ^ ^ crazy ^^ by his medical 
brethren and ostracized from medical societies. 
Such was the treatment accorded Dr. Still. 

His medical friends sneered at him and w^hen 
he made efforts to explain to them his discovery 
they refused to listen to his ^' crazy ^^ talk. He 
lost practice, his friends fell away from him. 
He was well to do and had accumulated con- 
siderable property in Kansas. He and his brother 
had donated 480 acres of land for the site of 
Baker University at Baldwin, Kansas. When 
he asked the privilege of explaining Osteopathy 
at the University, the doors of the structure he 
had helped to build were closed against him. 
He gradually lost his property and with his 
family moved to Missouri. For about ten years 
he traveled over the state visiting patients in 
various places. At times he actually wanted 

[19] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

for life's necessities. He finally located in Kirks- 
ville, Mo., and practised there and throughout 
the surrounding country. His work was almost 
entirely confined to the poor and very little of it 
was paid for. Every now and then, rumors of 
some wonderful cures which he had performed 
pervaded the community. Among those whom 
he had cured, he had loyal friends, but in 
the main the community referred to him as 
^Hhat old quack. Still'' and they attributed what 
success he had to faith cure, mesmerism, etc. 
^^ Doctor," a lady said to him one morning, ^^Now, 
be honest with me; isn't your success due to 
hypnotism?" '^ Well, madam, it may be," replied 
the doctor, ^^I've set three hips already this 
morning." 

In spite of the aspersion and ridicule heaped 
upon him and the difficulty of making both ends 
meet, he was always cheerful and optimistic and 
eternally confident of the world's ultimate recogni- 
tion of Osteopathy. There was always a oneness 
of purpose in his work. This, combined with a 
heart filled with charity, seemed entirely to 
exclude all thoughts of money matters or personal 
aggrandizement. 

I remember an incident in my own acquaintance 
with him which was illustrative of this and which 
occurred a few years after he had started his 
school. I was sitting with him on his back porch 

[20] 



HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY 

and, with an open anatomy in his lap and a skele- 
ton at his side, he was explaining to me some 
point of the bodily structure. A little crippled 
girl on crutches came around the corner of the 
house. She was a charity patient. ^^Oh, yes, 
I want to look after this little girl. Now you 
see'' — and he then entered into an explanation 
of her condition and how it could be corrected. 
While he was talking, his wife came to the door 

and said, ^^Pa, Senator 's wife is waiting for 

you in the parlor.'' ^^AU right, in a minute,'^ 
said the Doctor, and, with one hand on the little 
girl's back, he went on explaining. After a 
while, concluding with, ^^Now we'll go over to 
the school," he started for the school, having to 
be reminded again of the lady who was waiting 
for him in the house. He had become so interested 
in the little crippled charity patient that he had 
forgotten all about the United States Senator's 
wife whose husband was one of the most influential 
men in the country. 

Hard work, persistence and self-sacrifice finally 
won. Occasionally some person of prominence 
became interested. His theory was so rational 
that these brought others. In spite of the fact 
that his patients were almost entirely from those 
claimed as hopelessly incurable by the old method 
of healing, some of his cures were marvelous. 
People began to be attracted from distances and 

[21] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

the ''Old Doctor'' with his two oldest sons, 
Charlie and Harry, soon had as much practice 
as they could attend to. 

In 1892, he established a school. Many of 
his friends tried to deter him, some thinking his 
ability was a gift and could not be imparted to 
others. Others said that he was a fool; that 
after all these years of struggle, he ought to hold 
on to his secret himself and become wealthy. 
But money was the last thing about which Dr. 
Still thought. After the establishment of the 
school, although opposition by no means ceased, 
recognition came more rapidly. 

Today, Dr. Still is a hale old gentleman, eighty- 
eight years of age. Unlike the vast majority of 
the great who have made revolutionary discoveries 
of benefit to mankind, he has lived to see the fruit 
of his labors — to see his science generally recog- 
nized. In the little city of Kirksville where he 
lives, the citizens refer affectionately to him as 
the ''Old Doctor.'' He is a scientist and a man. 
When he comes to lay down his staff, it can be 
said of him, as it was said of another, "Were 
every one to whom he did some loving service to 
bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep 
beneath a wilderness of flowers." 

A brief outline of the present status of Os- 
teopathy will serve to show the remarkable 
progress made by this system of healing since the 

[22] 



HISTORY OF OSTEOPATHY 

first school was established in 1892, — a progress 
unequaled in a like period of time by any system 
which the history of the healing art records. 
The first class, enrolled in the school which Dr. 
Still established in 1892, numbered eighteen. 
The classes were conducted in a two-room frame 
cottage which today looks across the street toward 
a four-story building which houses complete 
laboratories and facilities for instructing the 
seven hundred osteopathic students of The Ameri- 
can School of Osteopathy. By the side of this 
building is a large hospital, one of the best equipped 
and most efl&ciently managed of any in the country. 
Since the establishment of this school, other 
well equipped osteopathic schools have been 
established and modern osteopathic hospitals are 
run in connection with them. Besides the Ameri- 
can School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Missouri, 
there are now: The Massachusetts College of 
Osteopathy at Boston, Mass.; Philadelphia Col- 
lege of Osteopathy at Philadelphia, Pa.; Des 
Moines Still College of Osteopathy, Des Moines, 
la. ; Central College of Osteopathy, Kansas City, 
Mo.; Chicago College of Osteopathy, Chicago, 
111., and the College of Osteopathic Physicians 
and Surgeons at Los Angeles, Cal. In addition 
to these schools, the profession has established 
the A. T. Still Osteopathic Research Institute, at 
Chicago, 111. Already an endowment fund of 

[23] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

$100,000.00 has been subscribed for its support. 
That it may be of the utmost efficiency in de- 
veloping the humanity-benefiting truths promul- 
gated by the founder of Osteopathy, it is the 
intention of the osteopathic physicians and their 
friends to raise $1,000,000.00 for its endowment. 

There are today seven thousand osteopathic 
physicians practising their profession in the 
United States and Canada, and the profession 
has representatives in all of the leading foreign 
countries. Its practitioners have been accorded 
legal recognition in all but a few of the states and 
in a number of the Canadian provinces. In many 
instances they have been granted independent 
State Examining Boards. 

The national organization of the profession, 
the American Osteopathic Association, enrolls 
over fifty per cent of all graduate Osteopaths. 
This indicates the profession's continued virility 
and honest humanitarian interest in the principles 
expounded by the universally revered founder. 
An examination will show that this percentage of 
the active membership in a profession's national 
organization is paralleled by no other profession 
in the world. The profession's increase and 
progress simply indicates the public acceptance 
of the osteopathic idea. 



[24] 



HOW I CAME TO ORIGINATE 
OSTEOPATHY 

[Reprinted by permission from the Ladies' Home Journal] 



I first saw the tracks of God in the snow of 
time. I followed them. 

— A. T. Still 



Tradition has been the everlasting parent of 
tyranny. 

— A. T. Still 



HOW I CAME TO ORIGINATE 
OSTEOPATHY 

By ANDREW TAYLOR STILL, M.D., D.O. 



MY first awakening to the principles which 
today have culminated in the science 
called ^^ Osteopathy^' came when I was about 
ten years old. I was a boy on my father's farm 
in Macon County, Missouri. I was subject to 
sick headaches, and while suffering from one 
of these attacks one day I was instinctively led 
to make a swing of my father's plowline between 
two trees. My head hurt too much to make 
swinging comfortable. I let the line down to 
within eight or ten inches of the ground, threw 
the end of a blanket on it, and lay down on the 
ground, using the line for a swinging pillow. 
To my surprise I soon began to feel easier, and 
went to sleep. In a little while I got up with 
headache and fever gone. This discovery in- 
terested me, and after that, whenever I felt my 
headache spells coming on, I would ^' swing my 
neck," as I called it. 

The next incident which gave me cause for 
thought occurred when I contracted dysentery, 

[27] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

or flux, with copious discharges mixed with blood. 
There were chilly sensations, high fever, backache 
and cold abdomen. It seemed to me my back 
would break, the misery was so great. A log was 
lying in my father's yard. In the effort to get 
comfort I threw myself across it on the small of 
my back and made a few twisting motions, which 
probably restored the misplaced bones to their 
normal position, for soon the pain began to leave, 
my abdomen began to get warm, the chilly 
sensation disappeared, and that was the last of 
the flux. 

MILL MACHINERY INTERESTED ME 

My father, as a pioneer, was a farmer, a mill 
owner, a minister and a doctor. I studied and 
practised medicine with him. 

Pioneer life on a Western farm in those days 
was such that all the inventive powers one might 
possess were given ample chance to show forth. 
There was very little to buy and less money to 
buy it with. My father had a grist and saw- 
mill run by water, in the working of which I 
became very much interested. Later, I bought 
an interest in a steam sawmill, and took a course 
of instruction in milling machinery for practical 
purposes. 

As I studied this mill machinery I got my first 
clear idea of the machinery of the human body. 

[28] 



THE ORIGIN OF OSTEOPATHY 

My mind invariably associated and compared 
the machinery of the mill with the machinery of 
the human being: with the drivewheels, pinions, 
cups, arms and shafts of the human, with their 
forces and supplies, framework, attachment by 
ligament and muscle, the nerve and blood supply. 
''How'' and ''where'' the motor nerves receive 
their power and motion, how the sensory and 
nutrient nerves act in their functions, their source 
of supply, their work done in health, in the parts 
obstructed, parts and principles through which 
they passed to perform their duties of life — all 
this study in human mechanics awoke with new 
vigor within me. I believed that something 
abnormal could be found which, by tolerating a 
temporary or permanent suspension of the blood 
in arteries or veins, would produce the effect 
which was called disease. 

With this thought in mind came such questions 
as: What is disease? What is fever? Is fever 
an effect? I took disease to be an effect, experi- 
menting and proving the position, being sustained 
each time by Nature's response in the affirmative. 

Early in the sixties I took a course of instruction 
in the Kansas City School of Physicians and 
Surgeons, studjdng such branches as were taught 
in the medical schools of that day. I took up 
the regular practice of an allopathic physician. 
I was called a good doctor. 

[29] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 



^'THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND 
IS MAN" 

During all this time I had devoted a large 
part of my time to the study of anatomy, which 
attracted me strongly. I read every book on 
the subject I could get hold of, but my chief 
source of study was the book of Nature. I found 
myself more and more believing that ^^the proper 
study of mankind is man,^^ and the best method 
to pursue it is to dissect and study the body itself. 
The skinning of wild animals in my youth brought 
me into contact with muscles, nerves and veins. 

The skeletons of the Indians were my next 
study in bones, and I went on making numberless 
experiments with bones until I became very famil- 
iar with the entire bony structure of the human 
body. Finally, I tried an experiment of my own: 
I made a picture or chart of the bones of the whole 
body, then stood blindfolded, or with my back to 
a table. A bone would be handed to me by an 
assistant. I would take it in my hands and by 
the ^^feeP' of it would name it and direct where it 
should be placed on the chart (right or left). I 
carried this to the extent of even the smallest 
bones of the hands and feet and those of the 
spine, until the chart was filled in completely. 
This I used to do over and over again. For not 
less than twelve months I studied bones alone, 

[30] 



THE ORIGIN OF OSTEOPATHY 

before taking up Descriptive Anatomy, because 
I wanted to know what a bone is and its use. I 
became as familiar with every bone as I was with 
the words ^^ father ^^ and ^^ mother.'' Of course 
all this meant untiring work, and I have hardly 
expected my students to follow me over the entire 
length of this portion of my road. Nevertheless, 
I believe as strongly today as ever that the closer 
they follow this road, the better for their patients. 
They must study and know the exact construction 
of the human body, the exact location of every 
bone, nerve, fiber, muscle and organ; the origin, 
the course and flow of all the fluids of the body, 
the relation of each to the other and the function 
it is to perform in perpetuating life and health. 
In addition, they must have ability to enable them 
to detect the exact location of any and all obstruc- 
tions to the regular movements of this grand 
machinery of life, and supplement this ability 
with skill to remove all such obstructions. 

From this study in bones I went on to the study 
of muscles, ligaments, tissues, arteries, veins, 
lymphatics and nerves. 

I began now to feel that I was irresistibly headed 
for some road: what road I myself knew not. Of 
one thing I was certain: I was getting farther 
away from the use of medicines in the treatment 
of ills and ails. I was a physician of the old 
school in name but not in fact. 

[31] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

I carried on my theories: I practiced them 
wherever I could find people who would place con- 
fidence in me, until the Civil War came on. Then 
I enlisted and went '^to the front/' 

On resuming my duties as a private citizen 
after the war, I took up again the study and 
research of my all-absorbing topic: how to cure 
disease without medicine, and on June 22, 1874, 
there came into my mind the first clear concep- 
tion of the practical workings of what is now 
known as the Science of Osteopathy. This day I 
celebrate as its birthday. 

ONE OF THE FIRST CASES I TREATED 

In the autumn of 1874 I was given a chance to 
try my ideas on a case of flux. I was walking with 
a friend on the streets of Macon, Missouri, in 
which town I was visiting, when I noticed in 
advance of us a woman with three children. I 
called my friend's attention to fresh blood that 
had dripped along the street for perhaps fifty 
yards. We caught up with the group and dis- 
covered that the woman's little boy, about four 
years old, was sick. He had only a calico dress 
on, and, to my wonder and surprise, his legs and 
feet were covered with blood. A glance was 
enough to show that the mother was poor. We 
immediately offered our services to help the boy 
home. I picked him up and placed my hand on 

[32] 



THE ORIGIN OF OSTEOPATHY 

the small of his back. I found it hot, while the 
abdomen was cold. The neck and the back of 
the head were also very warm and the face and 
nose very cold. This set me to reasoning, for 
up to that time the most I knew of flux was that 
it was fatal in a great many cases. I had never 
before asked myself the question: What is flux? 
I began to reason about the spinal cord which 
gives ofif its motor nerves to the front of the body, 
its sensory to the back; but that gave no clew to 
flux. Beginning at the base of the child's brain, 
I found rigid and loose places in the muscles and 
ligaments of the whole spine, while the lumbar 
portion was very much congested and rigid. The 
thought came to me, like a flash, that there might 
be a strain or some partial dislocation of the bones 
of the spine or ribs, and that by pressure I could 
adjust the bones and set free the nerve and blood 
supply to the bowels. On this basis of reasoning 
I treated the child's spine, and told the mother to 
report the next day. She came the next morning 
with the news that her child was well. 

There were many cases of flux in the town at 
that time and shortly after, and the mother, tell- 
ing of my cure of the child, brought a number of 
cases to me. I cured them all by my own method 
and without drugs. This began to stir up com- 
ment, and I soon found myself the object of 
curiosity and criticism. 

[33] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Another case which I was asked to see brought 
upon me still further criticism. A young woman 
was suffering with nervous prostration. All hope 
had been given up by the doctors, and the family 
was so told. After a number of medical councils 
her father came to me and said: ^^The doctors 
say my daughter cannot live. Will you step in 
and look at her?'^ I found the young woman in 
bed, and from the twisted manner in which her 
head lay I suspected a partial dislocation of the 
neck. On examination I found this to be true — 
one of the upper bones of her neck was slipped to 
one side, shutting off, by pressure, the vertebral 
artery on its way to supply the brain. In four 
hours after I had carefully adjusted the bones of 
her neck she was up and out of bed. 

WHY I STARTED A SCHOOL OF 
OSTEOPATHY 

I went through those interesting yet trying 
days deaf to criticism and conunent. I worked 
alone, studying, investigating, experimenting. 

Gradually people began coming to me in increas- 
ing numbers, and soon I found that my practice 
was beginning to grow beyond the limits of my 
strength. Several persons, seeing my increasing 
practice, now began to urge me to teach them a 
knowledge of the practical workings of my dis- 
covery. In the early nineties I concluded to 

[34] 



THE ORIGIN OF OSTEOPATHY 

teach others the principles that underlay my 
drugless work. I realized that I must have help 
or break down. I had four sons and one daughter, 
able-bodied young people, and the thought came 
to me to educate them in this science in order that 
they could assist me in my work. 

I employed the best talent that I could find to 
teach them anatomy, physiology and chemistry, 
teaching them, myself, the principles and practice 
of my own science. After my school had been in 
running order a short time others became inter- 
ested and asked permission to join, and the class 
increased in numbers. At the end of the first 
year I had some students who were able to help 
me in a way, and in the course of two years I 
really had assistance. This was the origin of 
what is known today as the ^^ American School of 
Osteopathy.'^ 

With the origination of the school came, of 
course, the necessity of a name to designate the 
science, and I chose ^'Osteopathy.'' I reasoned 
that the bone, '^ osteon," was the starting point 
from which I was to ascertain the cause of patho- 
logical conditions, and I combined the ^^osteo" 
with 'Apathy." 

So '' Osteopathy," sketched briefiy, was launched 
upon the world. 



[35] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

NOW WHAT IS OSTEOPATHY? 

Many people naturally ask: ^'What is Oste- 
opathy?'' 

Osteopathy is simply this: The law of human 
life is absolute, and I believe that God has placed 
the remedy for every disease within the material 
house in which the spirit of life dwells. I believe 
that the Maker of man has deposited in some 
part or throughout the whole system of the human 
body drugs in abundance to cure all infirmities: 
that all the remedies necessary to health are com- 
pounded within the human body. They can be 
administered by adjusting the body in such man- 
ner that the remedies may naturally associate 
themselves together. And I have never failed to 
find all these remedies. At times some seemed 
to be out of reach, but by a close study I always 
found them. So I hold that man should study 
and use only the drugs that are found in his own 
drug store — that is, in his own body. 

Osteopathy is, then, a science built upon this 
principle: that man is a machine, needing, when 
diseased, an expert mechanical engineer to adjust 
its machinery. It stands for the labor, both 
mental and physical, of the engineer, or Osteopath, 
who comes to correct the abnormal conditions of 
the human body and restore them to the normal. 
Of course, ^^ normal'' does not simply mean a re- 

[36] 



THE ORIGIN OF OSTEOPATHY 

adjustment of bones to a normal position in order 
that muscles and ligaments may with freedom 
play in their allotted places. Beyond all this lies 
the still greater question to be solved: How and 
when to apply the touch which sets free the 
chemicals of life as Nature designs? 

Osteopathy to me has but one meaning, and 
that is, that the plan and specification by which 
man is constructed and designed shows absolute 
perfection in all its parts and principles. When 
a competent anatomist (as the successful Os- 
teopath must be), in treating the human body, 
follows this plan and specification, the result wall 
be a restoration of physiological functioning from 
disease to health. 

An Osteopath is only a human engineer who 
should understand all the laws governing the 
human engine and thereby master disease. 



[37] 



Tie a string around your finger — tight. What 
will follow f The finger will turn red, and 
then it will turn black. In time it will 
die, and perhaps in consequence you will 
die too. No treatment, internal or exter- 
nal, material or mental, can save your 
finger so long as the string remains. The 
only thing necessary is the removal of the 
string. This in a crude way illustrates the 
principle which is the basis of Osteopathy. 

This principle is that anything which interferes 
with blood currents or with nerve impulses 
must be overcome in order to secure health 
of the parts affected. 

— E. M. Downing, D.O. 



[38] 



WHAT OSTEOPATHY IS 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



When all parts of the human body are in line, 
we have perfect health. When they are not, 
the effect is disease. When the parts are read- 
justed disease gives place to health, 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy is not a remedy. It is not a part of 
medicine or surgery. It is not a treatment for 
some particular class or group of diseases. 
It is a complete system of therapeutics appli- 
cable alike to all curable diseases. 

— Percy H. Woodall, D.O. 



WHAT OSTEOPATHY IS 

By GAEL P. McCONNELL, D.O. 



THE science of Osteopathy primarily depends 
for its success upon a most thorough and 
comprehensive study of the anatomy and physiol- 
ogy of the human body. Osteopathy has for its 
object the maintenance of the complete circuit 
of the motor, sensory and sympathetic nerves, to 
and from all the organs and tissues and the restora- 
tion of that harmonious action which must ensue 
when all parts are unirritated by any cause, thus 
permitting a perfect freedom of all fluids, forces 
and substances pertaining to life. 

In the application of this knowledge to the 
healing art is where the School of Osteopathy 
differs from its predecessors. Osteopathy retains 
the knowledge gained in the medical world, but 
believes that the administration of drugs in a 
remedial sense is a mistake and that, by a 
thorough understanding of the mechanism of the 
human system, on an anatomical, physiological 
and hygienic basis, disease can be prevented or 
controlled in an exact and definite manner by the 

[41] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

application of principles peculiar to osteopathic 
practice. 

More and more it is being realized that the use 
of drugs is not to be depended upon; and the 
intelligent physician, as well as layman, is not sat- 
isfied with the results. It is even questioned 
whether their use has not been more harmful than 
the sum of all the diseases of mankind. 

Osteopathy, on the other hand, depends for its 
remedial effects upon the integrity of nature; 
consequently the Osteopath believes that the giv- 
ing of drugs for the cure of himian ills is unreliable 
and unscientific. 

HUMAN SYSTEM COMPLETE IN ITSELF 

The human system is a perfect organism, a 
universe within itself, and being complete has the 
recuperative power of Nature within it. If such 
were not the case, the human body would be 
incomplete, man would be obliged to seek extrane- 
ous aid in the alleviation of disease, and in such 
instance the use of medical agencies would prob- 
ably be more of a success. 

The first step in osteopathic attainment is a 
most exhaustive knowledge of anatomical struc- 
tures and the physiological functions of the human 
body. Then is observed the fact that man is a 
complete being, capable of performing his own 
mental and physical acts when in health; that 

[42] 



WHAT OSTEOPATHY IS 



disease is simply evidence of disorder, and to 
restore health necessitates a correction of dis- 
ordered parts. 

The human organism contains the attributes 
of a physical mechanism. Vital functions are 
conditioned and amenable to the structural laws 
of physics. This fact determines the value of the 
science of Osteopathy — its practicalness. Herein 
is contained the essence of the art of Osteopathy. 

In the restoration of health the Osteopath 
works entirely in harmony with nature, correcting 
disorders of mind and body upon a physical basis 
through the application of his knowledge of the 
laws and principles of the human body, thereby 
looking upon disease as some disorder of the nor- 
mal function of the body, and not as an entity to 
be attacked by some foreign force which would 
only alleviate, antagonize or overshadow the real 
trouble. 

EXAMINATION OF THE PATIENT 

The patient is examined from a physical view- 
point. Pathological conditions and symptoms 
are used as clews to find the cause of the disease. 
Back of these signs and symptoms of the disease 
must be traced the origin of the nerve supply 
and the course of the blood channels from the 
parts diseased to the exact region, or primary 
lesion, causing the abnormal condition. 

[43] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

The cause of the disease may be a dislocated 
or sub-dislocated bone, ligament, cartilage, or 
muscle, producing an inhibition or irritation of a 
nerve jfiber or causing obstruction to an artery, 
vein, lymphatic or some fluid of the body, thereby 
resulting in disorder to that part of the body to 
which the affected nerve or vessel is connected or 
distributed. When the point of exact cause of 
the disease is located, aid is given crippled nature 
in reestablishing the normal activities of its forces. 

OSTEOPATHIC TREATMENT 

The mode of treatment is a scientific manipula- 
tion, applying the mechanical principle which is 
indicated in each separate case. Osteopathic 
treatment is not simply applicable to a particular 
line of diseases, but controls with precision and 
success all curable diseases of the entire cate- 
gory. Its newly discovered principles, peculiar to 
osteopathic practice, are of an unerring and 
comprehensive nature. 

Osteopathy's laws and principles, being in 
harmony with, and, in fact, part of the infinite 
natural forces of life, show its predominance over 
all previous schools of medicine. 

The Osteopath does not depend upon medicine 
to act upon the structure or function of the dis- 
ordered tissue, for the diseased tissue is simply 
an effect, but he relies upon the natural forces 

[44] 



WHAT OSTEOPATHY IS 



within the human body. He first corrects the 
structural deviations of any region that may be 
affected and thus restores physiological harmony 
to the diseased parts, and this being done, health 
must ensue. 



[45] 



A person walking over an uneven walk, may 
unexpectedly step in a depression and twist 
the spine. There is momentary pain that is 
soon forgotten. The injured place remains. 
The tissues become thickened. The move- 
ment of the joint is practically lost, the verte- 
bral foramina are partly closed, and there is 
disturbance of function of everything in rela- 
tion. The person may not be aware that it 
is tender until some osteopathic physician 
presses directly on the spot. 

— M. E. Clark, D.O. 



C46] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

BETWEEN OSTEOPATHY 

AND MEDICINE 

[Reprinted by permission from the Osteopathic Magazine] 



I felt I must anchor my boat to living truths 
and follow them wheresoever they might drift. 

— A. T. Still 



The recognition of pressure as the cause and 
continuation of disease, and the adoption of 
manipulative measures for the relief of such 
pressure, are the essential characteristics that 
differentiate Osteopathy from all of the other 
therapeutic systems. Adjustment is the key- 
note of Osteopathy. 

— J. W. Banning, M.D., D.O. 



i 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 
BETWEEN OSTEOPATHY 
AND MEDICINE 

By E. E. tucker, D.O. 



IN an open hearing before a committee of the 
State legislature of New Jersey, a question 
was asked by one of the members of the committee 
that went unanswered. 

^^What/^ said he, '^is the point of departure 
between Osteopathy and medicine?'^ 

If we are right in believing that all who think at 
all about Osteopathy ask themselves consciously 
or unconsciously the same question, then the 
answer will be pertinent here. 

The most conspicuous point of departure is 
that the doctor of medicine gives medicine, the 
osteopathic physician does not, but instead cor- 
rects structural disorders, which the medical doctor 
does not, and leaves the rest to Nature. Many 
things they have in common, that is, they both 
correct bad habits, advise diet, use surgery 
occasionally, etc. 

In his mind the average man asks why this 

[49] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

is a point of departure? Are the two schools 
compatible? 

They are incompatible. And they are incom- 
patible practically, psychologically, historically, 
educationally, scientifically, and philosophically. 

PRACTICAL POINT OF DEPARTURE 

The osteopathic physician corrects disorders 
because he finds them. No other reason need be 
given. And he leaves the rest to Nature because 
he finds that that is all that is necessary. A 
purely practical thing is the practice of Oste- 
opathy. The practice of medicine, on the other 
hand, uses medicines because it ^^ believes'' in 
them and because the authority of its school 
teaches them; that is to say, because such is the 
traditional practice of that profession. It is not 
because medicines have been found efficient. 
What the medical world really has found out about 
medicines is — that it has to keep on changing 
them, and hunting for new ones. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL 

Is the use of the word ^^ belief '' here justifiable? 
I think it is, and incidentally it brings us to the 
psychological point of departure. ^^ Belief in 
drugs is buried centuries deep in the mind of the 
whole people. When some man becomes a doctor 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

of medicine, he carries this beUef with him. It 
takes years of practical experience to shake it. 
As fast as the behef is destroyed at the top it is 
renewed again at the bottom. 

Also one believes in what one does. The belief 
in drugs is a natural consequence, as well as the 
cause, of giving them. 

No fault is to be found with the medical pro- 
fession for this. The medical profession is merely 
that part of the great public which devotes itself 
to the care and the cure of disease along traditional 
lines. The fault, if it is a fault at all, is to be 
attributed to human nature — mystery-loving, 
miracle-loving, conservative — living nine-tenths 
in the shadows it has itself made. 

HISTORICAL 

The historical point of departure dates from the 
very beginning of Osteopathy. It was rejected 
by the medical profession. Dr. Still proclaimed 
his new discoveries to his brother practitioners 
of medicine of that time and place, and has con- 
tinued to present them ever since. They were 
and are rejected as being impossible and absurd; 
which means that they are incompatible with the 
training of the medical mind and with the practice 
of the medical school. 

Compelled thus to grow up outside the medical 
school, the new practice nevertheless continued 

[51] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

to develop until it became both a separate pro- 
fession and a separate science. It cured and 
continued to cure those who came to it, many of 
whom thereupon became practitioners — prac- 
titioners on whom medicine and surgery had 
failed — and these helped to emphasize the 
difference between medicine and Osteopathy. 

The strongest point in the historical departure 
was this, that Osteopathy had an opportunity at 
first with only those on whom medicines had 
failed; whereas medicine handled all cases as they 
came, of whom at least eighty-five per cent recover 
anyw^ay, with or without medicine; for which 
nevertheless medicine gets credit. Thus only in 
the case of Osteopathy was there a fair test of 
value. This test was immensely favorable to the 
new system. 

Its success, however, did not bring about the 
glad acclaim of the medical practitioners. Instead 
it hardened their hearts. Nor is this to be charged 
against them as a bad mark. It is not medical, it 
is human. 

We are not under the necessity of apologizing 
for human nature; but it marks a point of depar- 
ture between Osteopathy and medicine. 

EDUCATIONAL 

In its growth, therefore. Osteopathy followed 
the lines of least resistance and grew up a separate 

[52] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

system; though it is a matter of fact that another 
medical practitioner, from Edinburgh, a fellow of 
the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was farseeing 
enough to put the pressure of his undoubtedly 
great genius behind the anti-medical tendencies, 
to establish the independence of Osteopathy as 
firmly as he could. This man was William Smith, 
M. D., C. L., F. R. S. E., D. O. — of which titles 
he valued the last the most. 

Far from being a disaster, this absolute division 
proved to be the finest thing possible for the new 
science. If, by new methods, the old ones could 
be shown unnecessary, then was the world so 
much the gainer; for the old ones were at all 
times dangerous, and, with the least incompetence, 
deadlier than the disease. 

Thus the educational departure of the new 
system became absolute. This enabled the new 
system to carry its measures to the highest possible 
efficiency. 

SCIENTIFIC 

As to the scientific point of departure, a scientific 
criticism of Osteopathy by the medical profession 
was never made. This was at first galling to 
many members of the osteopathic profession, but 
it need not have been. The last possible thing 
that a crowd or any mass of men, or even a pro- 
fession, is capable of, is scientific thinking. Science 
is an individual matter. With the mass of men, 

[53] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

taken as a whole, it is an art. And one art is 
typically jealous of the other arts. This the 
public does not see, of course, and it seems that 
the legal mind does not see it any more easily; 
for it has tried persistently to compel the two to 
mix. 

But the science of Osteopathy also has its 
exclusiveness; and in spite of the excellence of 
many scientific minds in the medical profession, 
it is impossible for the science of Osteopathy to 
lessen the rigidity of its scientific exclusiveness. 
First the medical profession practically rejected 
the science of Osteopathy. Then finding itself 
isolated and defined, the osteopathic profession 
found also that it had in hand a science that would 
not mix with medicine. This is in no sense a 
personal or a professional matter — it is not the 
act of a man or men — it is a question of science. 
The osteopathic profession found its science posi- 
tive. It found that it could harmonize its positive 
findings with the positive pathology of general 
science, and with its own therapeutic measures. 
It found that it could not harmonize the definite 
and positive facts and principles of its science 
with the guesswork of the medical practice. Os- 
teopathy was positive and exceedingly helpful. 
Where its helpfulness failed and its logic would not 
reach, there it was admissible to have recourse to 
experiment again, as the world had always done 

[54] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

— had always had to do. But in so far as there 
was a definite and positive thing, experimental 
practice was simply shoved farther away from 
the problem of disease. 

So long as the medical profession held the 
medical system to be fundamental, to be curative 
and not merely experimental, to be positive and 
not merely palliative or an emergency system, so 
long was no compromise possible. This is, of 
course, a matter between the professions, not 
between the sciences. Science is impersonal and 
cannot take sides. It is a matter for proof, not 
for warfare; science cannot disagree with science. 
Scientists may dispute with scientists, however, 
and will to the end of time. 

In practice, as all of the world knows, from the 
beginning up to the present time, the majority 
of the medical profession has acted upon this 
principle; it has claimed exclusive rights in thera- 
peutics and in authority. It has again and again 
shown an inability to develop self-criticism. This 
is not the fault of the men but of the system, or 
perhaps one might say, of human nature. The 
whole spirit of the miracle-search is opposed to 
pure science or any science. Mystery and miracle 
go hand in hand. 

But granting this fault in the philosophy and 
in the practice of medicine, is there yet no basis 
on which any of the great mass of work done by 

[55] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

medical men can be made available — can be found 
compatible with the osteopathic science? The 
omission of materia medica from osteopathic 
schools does not mean the omission of surgical 
and sanitary medicines nor is it to be understood 
as meaning necessarily a denial of any truth or 
value in materia medica. Science cannot take 
negative attitudes. It is, however, a very positive 
assertion of the superior value of osteopathic 
means and of the greater need of developing 
those means. 

The contrast must be made between the tradi- 
tional practice of medicine and the wonderfully 
valuable research work being done in the medical 
laboratories. Of this latter it is impossible to 
speak in terms of too high praise. The devotion 
and ability there has brought this age a degree of 
progress which must, when true perspective is 
obtained, stamp it as the great therapeutic age. 
The research that is of value, however, is that in 
physiology, biology, bio-chemistry and surgery, 
rather than in medicine. All the progress in 
medicine that is of value has come through 
surgery. Sanitation is a department of surgery, 
as are the wonderful agencies for the deadening 
of pain. In all of this Osteopathy rejoices and 
profits. 



C56] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

PHILOSOPHICAL ^ 

The philosophical point of departure is no less 
definite and absolute. 

In medicines and other systems we have experi- 
mental methods for curing diseases. Whether 
it be drugs or electricity or hydrotherapy or 
psychotherapy or any form of therapy, they are 
all attempts to make a wide or universal applica- 
tion of a thing that proved good in some cases. 
They are entirely experimental methods, merely 
trying for further results with little reference to 
causes, processes and laws which are almost entirely 
unknown. 

They prove themselves mere methods, because 
they adopt other experimental methods and find 
no incompatibility in doing so. They prove 
themselves experimental methods in the very 
criticism their exponents make of Osteopathy, 
being unable to see in it anything but another 
mere method. 

In contrast to these experimental methods 
stands the osteopathic practice, based on the actual 
facts discovered in the individual case, agreeing 
with biology and explaining pathology; moving 
not at all until it finds disorder and then only 

^ PHILOSOPHICAL is here used in its commonly accepted 
meaning as pertaining to the knowledge of the causes of all 
phenomena both of mind and matter, rather than in its strictly 
technical sense. — Ed. 

[57] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

moving to correct this disorder and not allowing 
itself to be drawn into mere guesswork, preferring 
rather to leave all to the understanding of Nature 
except in so far as it can remove the causes of 
disease. 

These two contrasting systems cannot live 
together in the same mind. Those schooled in 
experimental methods who have sufficiently con- 
sidered the osteopathic doctrines are convinced 
by them, and become osteopathic physicians and 
cease to be ^^ believers'^ in medicine or ^^ believers'' 
in anything else; but rise to the higher scientific 
plane of working with the facts and trusting in 
them. 

Osteopathic philosophy is based absolutely 
upon this principle. It considers no move justifi- 
able until that move can be based upon knowledge. 
It considers it rarely justifiable to interfere with 
or to suspend Nature's processes, for which she 
has reason; or to nullify her laws, which are the 
conditions under which she moves. The worst 
possible travesty of science, the most pessimistic, 
indeed the most atheistic and chaotic attitude 
toward Nature, is that which justifies blind experi- 
ment in an ordered physiological being. No 
justification can be found for experimental 
methods, except in the absolute lack of sufficient 
knowledge of cause and effect, and then only in 
the effort to find such cause and effect. In fact, 

[58] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

this effort is continued only because the pubhc 
demands that some effort be made to cure or to 
discover a cure for their diseases. 

The philosophy of the medical system, if it 
can be said to have a philosophy, seems to have 
been based upon the doctrine that everything 
made by the Creator was made for some purpose. 

Possibly most of us would agree with this, 
but when the medical profession goes on to assume 
that He put ready to our hands all the herbs of 
the field and all of the chemical and other forces 
of nature, therefore He meant that these be 
used for our relief in disease, we most heartily 
disagree. The logical fault of such a doctrine is 
that it has no virtue. As well say, twice two is 
a pot of beans. It has been broad enough, 
however, to justify almost any conceivable vagary 
that any dreamer with the medical degree could 
devise. 

This philosophy can hardly be called a philoso- 
phy. It is merely an inheritance. What the 
facts really are is as follows: In so far as it is a 
mystery the only way to reach it is through 
experiments. The public demands that some 
effort be made, and it loves miracles. The search 
for specific remedies is the search for a miracle. 
Mystery and miracle go hand in hand and must 
forever go hand in hand. This miracle idea is a 
lineal descendant of the Philosopher's Stone, with 

[59] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

which students of history are familiar, the parent 
of alchemy and through alchemy the parent of 
medicine. The survival is not a science but a 
psychological phenomenon; not a fault of any 
group of men but an expression of human nature. 

In contrast with this, the philosophy of Os- 
teopathy asserts that since the majority of 
mankind remains healthy under given conditions, 
and one or two become sick under these condi- 
tions, therefore the power exists in the organism 
to remain healthy, and the reason why illness 
arises in some cases and not in others is to be 
sought for in some difference in those individuals. 
That difference is hunted for and found; and on 
it is built the practice of Osteopathy. Nature 
does not create functions to exist only as diseases. 
When disease does arise, it presents a question 
for determining what are the compelling causes. 
These compelling causes were found by Dr, 
Andrew Taylor Still to consist of actual disor- 
ders in the parts of the body. As such they 
were studied. Thus developed the science of 
Osteopathy. 

The philosophy of Osteopathy is the philosophy 
of fact. The osteopathic profession makes a 
positive diagnosis of actual disorders found in 
the structure of the body, affecting its functional 
balance. It makes a positive claim of being able 
to remove such disorders. It shows in terms of 

[60] 



THE POINT OF DEPARTURE 

known physiology the relation between the dis- 
orders and the result. In most cases it presents 
records (made by men capable of making such 
records), of benefit or of cure, from the removal 
of these causes. 

The great point of departure then between 
Osteopathy and medicine is that between a 
practical fact and experimental practice. 



[61] 



In Osteopathy not only was there an evolution 
hut there was a revolution. Every system of 
treatment previously developed had been de- 
signed primarily to combat effects. Dr. 
Stiirs great work lies in the determination 
of cause, and through a knowledge of that 
cause, the application of an effective treat- 
ment. 

— G. D. HuLETT, B.S.. D.O. 



[62] 



DISEASE FROM AN OSTEOPATHIC 
VIEWPOINT 

Pleprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



God^s pay for labor and time is truth and truth 

only. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy walks hand in hand with nothing 
hut Nature^ s laws and for that reason alone 
it marks the most significant progress in the 
history of scientific research. 

— A. T. Still 



DISEASE FROM AN OSTEOPATHIC 
VIEWPOINT 

By M. F. HULETT, B.S., D.O. 



THE history of medicine is a record of empirical 
practice upon an all too credulous public. 
Hoping for relief we grab at a straw. Promise of 
cure, though without a semblance of reason back 
of it, like the candle light to the moth, lures its 
victims by the thousands, heedless of the conse- 
quences. Unfortunately, disease has been too 
little understood — and its remedy less so. Too 
long has it been considered that disease is a 
mysterious, devouring monster, separate and 
distinct from bodily mechanism — an invader, 
usurper on a mission of destruction. Very 
naturally, with this conception as a premise, the 
search for curative measures has been largely 
confined to attempts to discover some agency 
that would drive out, absorb or annihilate this 
grim terror. This search is largely the history of 
medical therapeutics, its nostrums, its poisonous 
compounds, its serums, its germicides and much 
of its surgery, all pointing with unerring aim 

[65] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

to such a conclusion. Something, however, has 
been done in recent years on a more rational 
basis; but even yet not a small amount of this 
ancient superstition still remains. 

It is a hopeful sign, however, to observe that 
the foundation of this false therapeutic structure 
is being undermined — is crumbling away. We 
are searching more deeply into the cause and 
studying less the effect (except as it points to a 
cause) and its remedy. It is gratifjdng to note, 
too, that this change is largely co-existent with 
the origin and development of Osteopathy. This 
science, making less prominent the effect, the 
symptom, and being satisfied with nothing short 
of the discovery of a first and primary cause, 
has done more to bring about a better under- 
standing of the ^^ human machine '^ in its relation 
to diseased (or disordered) conditions than any 
other one therapeutic system. Its viewpoint is 
from an entirely different field and we will en- 
deavor to demonstrate that it has a more rational 
basis. 

In order to understand better this new concep- 
tion, let us for the moment forget all about 
Osteopathy which may, in our individual 
interpretation of its meaning, seem vague and 
indefinable, and, without being prejudiced, con- 
sider in a rational way a few well-known physio-^ 
logical principles. 

[66] 



AN OSTEOPATHIC VIEWPOINT 

Bodily tissues, muscles, glands, organs, etc. 
(without nerves to govern their actions) are inert, 
mere masses of matter, unresponsive and lifeless. 
Every movement of the body is the result of 
muscular contraction — an approximation of the 
different points to which the muscle is attached. 
But the muscle cannot contract itself; it has no 
inherent power to act, it lies there dormant until 
put into motion by an independent force. This 
force, generated in the brain, or other subsidiary 
center of origin, is transmitted along the nerve 
especially created for it to its point of action. 
Without this impulse, or stimulus, the muscle is 
helpless. This is true of all muscular contraction 
and is demonstrable beyond any question. A 
similar phenomenon is undoubtedly true of all 
other functions. For instance, the stomach 
secretes certain digestive fluids. In this process 
of secretion, the secreting gland acts, as does the 
muscle, only when influenced by the nerve impulse 
starting from its center of origin and terminating 
in the gland. In like manner, we can logically 
assume that every other tissue and organ exhibits 
similar phenomena. Even the blood and lymph 
circulation, on which bodily health so much 
depends, is similarly controlled. The heart, the 
greatest propelling force, is a muscular organ 
acting as do other muscles. The walls of the 
blood channels are everywhere supplied with 

[67] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

muscles and their governing nerves control their 
calibre, thereby regulating the quantity of fluid 
passing through them. Knowing these facts by 
practical experiment upon most of the bodily 
tissues, we dare assert that all function is governed 
by nerve stimulus, originating in the brain — or 
similar subsidiary center — and transmitted 
through the nerve to the organ or part. 

With this conception of physiological function, 
we reasonably assume that health exists when 
functional life is normal — when the organ or 
part is in action in response to a normal nerve 
stimulus and that disease is the result of the 
opposite condition — a friction of parts, an 
interrupted nerve current and other causes to 
which these are contributory. 

But why the opposite condition, this abnormal 
action? Let us consider for a moment a condition 
that might produce this friction, or interference 
with the nerve current. The human machine, 
as are other machines, is subject to certain me- 
chanical laws which must be obeyed. On account 
of its delicate structure and sensitive nature, it 
is even more susceptible to a violation of these 
laws than is the mere mechanical device. A 
disturbance of the relation of the parts, even 
though slight, produces friction somewhere, or 
impedes or restricts the nerve current. This 
done, function is impaired or ceases in the organ 

[68] 



AN OSTEOPATHIC VIEWPOINT 

supplied by that nerve. The products of that 
organ become deficient in quantity or quality — 
often in both — or its power to excrete the poison- 
ous bodily waste ceases. Disease results with 
severity in direct proportion to the importance of 
the function impaired, to the amount of destroyed 
tissue, or according to the amount of poisonous 
matter retained in the system. To restore health, 
function must be re-established. How shall this 
be done? We might cut away the diseased part; 
we might cauterize the area involved and cleanse 
it. But if we do nothing to re-establish the 
function, to adjust the structure interfering with 
that function, continued or progressive destruction 
must follow. 

There is only one way in which tissue can be 
reconstructed. The work must be done by the 
natural tissue-building properties of the body, 
the normal blood and lymph and the products of 
digestion properly assimilated. No medicine wall 
do this for the organ. The most expert chemist, 
with any possible combination of drugs cannot 
construct tissue — no drug or combination of 
drugs will build tissue. In order to heal a wound 
there must be brought to it, through the natural 
channels of the body, the tissue-building materials, 
food elements, the product of digestion. 

Obstructions are referred to above. l^Tiat are 
they? Why do they exist? How do they origi- 

[69] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

nate? What effect have they on functional life? 
For the purpose of this article reference to one 
class will suffice. The spine is composed of a 
number of bones, vertebrae, one upon the other, 
being so perforated that together they form a bony 
canal in which lies the spinal cord. A joint is 
formed at the juncture of each pair of adjacent 
bony segments of the spine. The spine, therefore, 
is a series of joints as well. Now the function 
of a joint is motion. This is what it is created 
for — movement. Sometimes this motion is im- 
peded; sometimes it ceases altogether. Strains 
and injuries of various nature induce inflammatory 
action, forming adhesions or producing thickening 
of the component parts of the joints. This is 
one form of obstruction. The result is disease — 
disorder. But this obstruction in itself is not 
necessarily a serious condition. The stiffness of 
a single joint of the spine need not interfere with 
much bodily activity. The bending of the spine 
is not an absolutely essential element in life. 
But passing between adjacent vertebrae are two 
nerves, one on either side, the media through 
which is transmitted the energy governing other 
and often much more important functions. As the 
joint becomes restricted, ligaments around it con- 
tract and harden, excretions infiltrate the tissues 
and disturb or decrease the size of the passage in 
which the nerves lie to such an extent that all 

[70] 



AN OSTEOPATHIC VIEWPOINT 

nerve energy may there be dissipated. The 
organ supphed by such nerve, therefore, becomes 
inactive — its function ceases and its individual 
life is impaired. Again, since the spinal cord 
receives its blood supply — nutrition — through 
these same openings, most serious damage may 
result from a lack of blood there and a conse- 
quently starved nervous system. 

Impaired motion of the spinal joints and the 
accompanying hindrance to the spinal cord circu- 
lation are not the only obstructions that may 
exist. Strains and contractions of muscles often 
cause various irregularities of the joints. A single 
vertebra may be ^^ slipped" to the side (of course 
only slightly, otherwise severing the cord or 
causing a pressure upon it sufficient to produce 
paralysis at that point), a rotation may exist, or a 
slip or rotation of a series of vertebrae — thereby 
irritating, directly or indirectly, the nerves passing 
from the spinal cord, by drawing tight the verte- 
bral ligaments. 

Thus far, it has been the aim of the writer to 
make plain one form of 'lesion" — ^^ perverted 
structure which by pressure or other irritation 
produces or maintains functional disorder.'^ It is 
not the intention so to confine the subject. There 
are other forms of lesion, many of them; but to 
go into detail with each class, since the principle 
is generally applicable, is useless. 

[71] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

The osteopathic viewpoint, therefore, is based 
in general upon the principle that '^structure 
(anatomical relations) determines function. '^ 
Health exists when there is harmony in structure. 
Disease follows disordered relations; or disease 
is the result of (first) structural derangement 
which inevitably produces (second) perverted or 
suspended function. (The writer is aware that 
abuse may modify function thereby originating 
pathological conditions, but that phase of the 
subject cannot be considered in the brief space 
allowed for this subject.) 

Osteopathic therapeutics, therefore, depends 
upon the mechanical principle of adjustment of 
structure. It contemplates that the bodily func- 
tions are maintained by the harmonious, unre- 
stricted action of all parts. The presence of 
disease indicates primarily structural derangement 
— interference with the free action of the vital 
forces. To locate this derangement, together 
with a consideration of all its associated conse- 
quences, constitutes the substance of the Osteo- 
path's diagnosis. Then, his therapeutics is an 
adjustment, by manual operations, of that abnor- 
mal structure, adapted to the individual condition 
and varying according to the particular needs. 
When this adjustment is secured, by the removal 
of the obstruction and a consequent liberation 
of nerve energy — a restoration to normal func- 

[72] 



AN OSTEOPATHIC VIEWPOINT 

tion — nature rebuilds or restores the weakened 
tissue. 

Nature always tends toward the normal so 
long as she has freedom of action. Her power 
to do this is inherent. There is no external force 
which will supply her demands in artificial doses. 
She needs no tonic or stimulant — no whip. 
All that is required is the freedom of action with 
which she was originally endov/ed by an all-wise 
Creator. 



[73] 



Dr. Still found that manipulation of the spinal 
column and its dependent tissues produced 
certain startling and special reactions, and 
this was strikingly the case whenever there 
was in the backbone any visible or palpable 
irregularity, lesion or deflection. His studies 
of the spinal mechanism led him to the con- 
viction that virtually all so-called diseases, 
pains, symptoms and so on, were indirectly 
caused by these spinal lesions. 

— M. A. Lane, B.Sc. 



[74] 



WHAT OSTEOPATHIC LESIONS 
ARE 

[Reprinted from the Stillonian] 
From Notes on a Lecture Delivered to the Stillonians 



Man, the most complex, intricate and delicately 
constructed machine of all creation, is the one 
with which the Osteopath must become familiar. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy is the practical knowledge of how 
man is made and how to right him when he 
gets wrong. 

— A. T. Still 



WHAT OSTEOPATHIC LESIONS 
ARE 

By G. M. LAUGHLIN, M.S.D., D.O. 



FROM an osteopathic point of view, a lesion 
is any abnormality of structure which inter- 
feres with function. Do not get the idea that 
these lesions are great big things, that there 
must be a dislocated vertebra or rib, or a spinal 
curvature or some great abnormality in order to 
constitute a lesion. There are comparatively 
few lesions of that kind. When there is the least 
particle of abnormality of position of spinal 
structure or when there is a change in the relation 
of bones, Ugaments and muscles, these conditions 
constitute lesions. We may have a rotation of a 
vertebra and that is a lesion; we may have a 
curvature of the spine and that is a lesion; we 
may have a straight spine and that is a lesion; 
a rigid spine, hardened or tensed muscles all con- 
stitute lesions. They are all lesions because they 
are abnormal structural conditions and interfere 
with the origin and transmission of nerve force. 

We must recognize that the nervous structure 
is the master structure; nerve tissue the master 

[77] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

tissue. When there is anything wrong with the 
nerve impulses, some disturbance of function is 
going to occur. You all know that the nervous 
system is very much like an electric-light plant. 
The impulses originating in the central portion 
of the nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, 
are transmitted all over the body. The brain is 
the dynamo, the nerve fibers are the wires. In 
the electric-plant, if the dynamo should get out 
of fix, we could have no light; so if something is 
wrong with the nutrition to the brain or spinal 
cord; the impulses will not be normal. If the 
wires are broken or short circuited, the light goes 
out; so with the nervous system, if the nerves are 
impinged upon or irritated, of course there will 
be interference with function — the impulses will 
not be normal. 

In order to have good digestion, good elimina- 
tion, etc., we must have the proper distribution 
of nerve force and no interference with the nerves 
after they leave the central nervous system. Any 
of the lesions spoken of might interfere with the 
nutrition to the central system where the nerve 
cells are located. The spinal cord and brain 
must be nourished with good blood. The blood 
carries nutrition from the gastro-intestinal tract 
to the central nervous system. If there is any 
interference to the blood supply on account of 
spinal lesions, the nervous impulses will be weak 

[78] 



OSTEOPATHIC LESIONS 

and the individual will not have good health. 
Wherever there is a lesion, there is obstruction; 
interference with the intervertebral foramina, 
interference with the vaso-motor nerves which 
control circulation and interference with the 
central nervous system. 

We find the principal cause for most of our 
chronic ailments to be either reduction of vitality 
at the nerve center due to interference with 
nutrition or some mechanical interference with 
the nerves themselves. 

All lesions found along the spine do not result 
from injury or trauma. Some do, of course, but 
most of them come on slowly; not in a day or a 
week and not because we step into a hole or fall. 
Most of them come on slowly and may be two, 
three, four, five or even twenty years in develop- 
ing. Then how did they come about? Strain is 
one cause, overwork, exposure and many times 
infectious diseases, where the individual is ex- 
tremely ill for a period of time; all these are 
causative factors which will produce a warping 
and twisting of the spinal column and bring about 
mal adjustment. Chronic diseases come on as a 
result of these slowly developing lesions. 

In practically all cases where there is lesion, 
there is limitation of motion. The question is 
sometimes asked, ^^How are lesions maintained? '^ 
I have made the statement that we do not have 

[79] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

complete dislocation in order to have lesion, but 
limitation of motion which interferes with nutri- 
tion to the nervous system. As the lesion de- 
velops, the abnormal position produces a local 
irritation or inflammation. New tissue forms 
about the site of the lesion, causing adhesions at 
that point, and as these adhesions thicken, the 
ligaments and muscles lose their elasticity, stiffen 
and harden, maintaining the lesion. 

In chronic diseases, by breaking up the adhe- 
sions, where there is fibrous tissue formed; by 
the establishment of motion, where motion is 
indicated, and by the correction of structure, we 
remove the interference to the nutrition to the 
nervous system so that impulses may be properly 
originated and properly transmitted and the 
organs perform their normal functions. 



[80] 



MANNER OF TREATMENT 



Find it, fix it, and leave it alone. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathic treatment is scientific in that it 
recognizes the relation between cause and effect 
in disease^ and seeks to remove the cause rather 
than to treat the symptoms — the effects of the 
disease. 

— Orren E. Smith, D.O. 



MANNER OF TREATMENT 

By G. V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



THE object of osteopathic manipulations being 
largely to adjust the bony structures of the 
body to their proper relative position for the 
purpose of removing interference to the physiologi- 
cal action of organs and to promote the cure of 
disease, the manner of procedure is of interest. 

The first consideration is the establishment of 
a correct diagnosis of the pathological condition, 
to which end the usual methods of physical and 
laboratory diagnosis may be employed. Having 
located the seat of the pathological condition and 
the extent of organic changes in the tissues of the 
body as far as possible, the next step is the analysis 
of the cause which might have led to the per- 
verted functioning or to the organic change, 
determining whether motion, sensation or nutrition 
be interfered with. The avenues of travel for the 
impulses controlling each of these functions that 
may be found disturbed are then searched for 
possible cause of interruptions to the normal 
movement of such impulses, or for reflexes that 
might divert or augment them. The nerves and 

[83] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

blood vessels being seldom subject to abnormal 
pressure while passing through the softer tissues 
of the body, it is but reasonable to suppose that 
the most likely point of mechanical interference 
is at some point where they come into relation 
with the denser structures of the body. It is 
then the duty of the Osteopath to examine closely 
the relation of the vertebrae, ribs, innominates, 
etc., to find the exact point or points of inter- 
ference to the forces that present evidence of 
disordered physiological action in the case at 
hand. In this the osteopathic method is peculiar, 
individual and distinct from all other methods 
of examination. The usual physical examination 
for the determination of the organ functioning 
improperly, guides the Osteopath to certain 
definite points along the spine where the nerves 
controlling that function center and, on the other 
hand, should the Osteopath make the spinal 
examination first his findings of structural devia- 
tions there would, according to their location, 
indicate to him more or less accurately the organs 
whose functions are disturbed. 

So much for the diagnosis, and having estab- 
lished the same both pathologically and osteo- 
pathically, the Osteopath proceeds to treat the 
case along osteopathic lines in accordance with 
the findings, or he may refer the case to the best 
means available for the care of the conditions, 

[84] 



MANNER OF TREATMENT 

whether it be surgical, institutional or otherwise, 
as may be indicated. 

Proceeding with the osteopathic treatment, 
for that concerns us most at this point, the patient, 
dressed in clothing that will permit of freedom of 
motion to the spine and extremities, occupies a 
sitting or reclining posture that will afford the 
greatest ease of operation for the physician and 
will allow muscular relaxation of the parts to be 
adjusted. The Osteopath uses his hands to make 
the adjustments. From his knowledge of the 
structures of the body and the relation of the 
parts under operation, he chooses a point to be 
used for a fulcrum, while the leverage necessary 
to place the structures in their proper relative 
position is usually obtained by the use as a lever 
of one or more of the bones adjacent to the point 
of lesion, or structural abnormality, which is the 
object of his attention. Not so much force as 
skill is required to bring about the adjustment 
desired. Each particular lesion requires a certain 
definite fulcrum or fulcrums and a certain definite 
lever or leverages used singly or successively to 
move the structures to their normal position. 

The technique of each osteopathic adjustment 
is exceedingly complex and difficult of proper 
execution, requiring, as it does, a highly sensitive 
touch, complete knowledge of the structures and 
their physiological relations at the seat of the 

[85] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

operation, judgment as to the placing of the ful- 
crum and the choice of levers, acquaintance with 
the laws of mechanics governing the use of levers, 
consideration as to the amount of energy necessary 
to operate the levers used to bring about adjust- 
ment without producing pain or discomfort for 
the patient. All these and more the osteopathic 
physician must bring to bear with skill upon each 
problem of adjustment that he attempts to solve. 
Every movement that the physician makes dur- 
ing each manipulative procedure is done with a 
certain definite end in view according to the needs 
presented by the situation. Nothing is done by 
rote, the individual case requires definite and 
specific treatment, whether it be to secure the 
adjustment of one vertebra or a dozen that may 
be out of normal position. 

The question is often asked how many treat- 
ments, corrections or attempts to correct a given 
lesion, may be necessary before it will remain in 
normal position, and it is a very difficult question 
to answer, there being so many factors concerned 
in the cause and maintenance of these structural 
perversions. Practically speaking, each case is 
a law unto itself. A single correction, which being 
afterwards maintained, has given Osteopathy 
many a glorious victory over disease. On the 
other hand, in old curvatures for instance, where 
there is change in form as well as in position of 

[86] 



MANNER OF TREATMENT 

the vertebrae, no number of attempts at correction 
could be crowned with perfect success. Often 
the ligaments about the lesion have thickened as 
the result of inflammatory changes, just as they 
do about any sprained joint, in which case the 
Osteopath is confronted with a problem that will 
take time and repeated efforts at correction to 
successfully solve. Other things being equal, the 
relief of functional disturbance or the benefit 
given organic disease is usually in direct proportion 
to the degree of success obtained in the correction 
of the lesions, provided, of course, that the organic 
changes have not progressed beyond all possibility 
of help from natural sources. 

The length of time necessary for a treatment 
varies according to the needs of the case at hand, 
and the dispatch with which the physician is able 
to recognize such need and apply suitable remedial 
measures. In a case presenting a single twisted 
rib that is manifestly the sole source of functional 
disorder, it would be folly to spend time in going 
through motions about the other ribs. The single 
rib might be adjusted in a minute or two. On the 
other hand, it would be equally as unwise to con- 
fine the attentions to one rib when several ribs or 
vertebrae are concerned in the lesion. Here again 
each case is a law unto itself and the judgment of 
the practitioner must interpret the law. 

There are those who are burdened with the idea 

[87] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

that osteopathic treatment is strenuous, rough 
and painful, and from certain quarters this idea is 
encouraged by statements to the effect that only 
the strong can withstand the treatment. However, 
the truth is that the treatments are gauged to 
meet the needs of the patient whether it be a babe, 
a feeble old person or an athlete. Here is where 
the Osteopath's judgment is called into play to 
meet the condition of the patient, as is a medical 
physician's judgment in the choice of dosage. 
Even the most skillful operator cannot promise to 
work always without discomfort or pain to his 
patient, but if he is conscientious, he will accom- 
plish the end desired with the least possible dis- 
comfort to his patient. Points that are extremely 
sensitive to the touch because of the conditions 
incident to the lesion or areas of inflammation, 
are treated indirectly so that the pain of treat- 
ment is minimized, but most osteopathic proce- 
dures are not necessarily associated with pain. 

With regard to the frequency of treatment for 
the individual case, this too is a law unto itself. 
In acute conditions several treatments within 
twenty-four hours may be indicated. Others 
may require treatment daily, and from that to 
once weekly or only occasionally, according as 
the need may be apparent. 

Another question frequently asked is concerning 
the corrections and the permanency of the results 

[88] 



MANNER OF TREATMENT 

of osteopathic work. Here nature assists the 
physician with a tendency to maintain normal 
structural and functional conditions. While the 
same circumstances that produced the lesions in 
the first place may operate to produce the same 
again, yet with the tendency being toward the 
normal and the patient instructed to avoid possible 
repetition in the action of the forces that produced 
the lesion, the results are largely of a permanent 
nature, the improvement being both specific and 
constitutional. 



[89] 



It has been truly and wisely said that Dr. StilFs 
one grand discovery as a practical therapist 
was the fact that one human body, with all 
its wonderful structure and function, with 
all its marvelous resources and susceptibili- 
ties, could be brought under the control of 
another individual, who, with intelligent under- 
standing of anatomy and the application of 
the special technique worked out by Dr. Still, 
could play upon the mechanism of that body 
as the skilled performer plays upon the com- 
plex musical instrument. 

— M. A. Lane, B.Sc. 



[90] 



A DIFFERENTIATION 

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OSTEOPATHY 
AND MASSAGE 

— A. T. Still, M.D., D.O. 

[Reprinted by permission from the Ladies' Home Journal] 

AN ILLUSTRATION 

— Asa Willard, D.O. 

[Reprinted by permission from the Jom-nal of Osteopathy] 



The Osteopath's business is to know the plumbing 
oj the house of life. 

— A. T. Still 



Merely to be able to manipulate no more con- 
stitutes an Osteopath than the ability to hold 
a knife makes a surgeon. 

— Percy H. Woodall, D.O. 



DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OSTEOP- 
ATHY AND MASSAGE 

By a. T. still, M.D., D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY absolutely differs from mas- 
sage. The definition of ' ^ Massage ' ' is masso, 
to knead: shampooing of the body by special 
manipulations, such as kneading, tapping, strok- 
ing, etc. The masseur rubs and kneads the 
muscles to increase the circulation. The Osteo- 
path never rubs. He takes off any pressure on 
blood-vessels or nerves by the adjustment of any 
displacement, whether it be of a bone, cartilage 
ligament, tendon, muscle, or even of the fascia 
which enfolds all structures; also by relaxing any 
contracture of muscle or ligament due to dis- 
placements, to drafts causing colds, to overwork 
or nerve exhaustion. The Osteopath knows the 
various nerve-centers and how to treat them, in 
order that the vaso-motor nerves can act upon the 
blood-vessels, bringing about in a physiological 
manner a normal heart-action and freeing up the 
channels to and from the heart. The Osteopath 
deals always with causes, has no '^ rules of action,'^ 
as such, but applies reason to each case according 

[93] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

to the conditions presented, treating no two cases 
quite alike. He knows from past experience that 
the effect seen is produced by a cause with which 
he must deal in order to give relief. 

The Osteopath is a physician. The masseur 
does not take the responsibility of the full charge 
of a diseased condition, but works under the 
direction of a physician, and has to do with effects, 
appljdng by rote to the body so much rubbing, so 
much stroking, so much tapping, so much knead- 
ing, etc., there being definite rules laid down appli- 
cable to general cases. 

Osteopathy is a science and an art also. It 
includes a knowledge of anatomy, biology, physi- 
ology, chemistry and pathology. Its therapeutics 
are independent and original, and as extensive 
as the entire medical and surgical fields. 



AN ILLUSTRATION 

By ASA WILLARD, D.O. 

A BARBER and a surgeon both work on the 
body with sharp instruments, yet their 
work is different. A Homeopath is not an Allo- 
path because they both use drugs. There is a 
difference between the stone mason and the sculp- 
tor. The masseur uses his hands in his work; 

[94] 



A DIFFERENTIATION 



SO does the Osteopath, and there the comparison 
ends. 

Massage is a system of movements, certain 
slappings, rubbings and squeezings, done by rote 
and learned in a few months. An Osteopath is a 
trained physician seeking out the cause and re- 
moving it. The masseur finds a limb congested 
or badly nourished and goes about rubbing and 
squeezing to stir up the stagnant circulation. 
You could do this in the case of the arm which has 
gone to sleep because it has been hanging over the 
back of the chair, or the leg because it has been 
crossed, but only temporary relief would be 
afforded if the limb is not moved in such a manner 
that the pressure upon the nerves and blood ves- 
sels is removed. The Osteopath would seek out 
the point where obstruction exists to these nerve 
and blood currents, remove that obstruction and 
open the channel. This done, he reasons that 
the heart will propel the blood, and that the 
nervous system will attend to its distribution in a 
normal manner. He stretches muscles when nec- 
essary; he relaxes ligaments and adjusts to their 
normal relations bones, cartilages and other dense 
structures, but he does not stroke and rub the 
surface. 



[95] 



The basic principle of Osteopathy is the basic 
principle that runs through all nature. Ad- 
justment is the basic principle of every 
science. Osteopathy is a Science. It main- 
tains the same relationship to the great family 
of science that every other science does. It 
bears the finger markings of the Omnipotent 
and Eternal God. 

The '^Old Doctor^' once said to me that life is 
intelligent wherever you find it; whether in 
the tree or in the fiesh, there is a force that 
goes to work at once to ''fix^^ the abrasion in 
the most intelligent way. This force is life. 
Life is the great healing agent of God^s uni- 
verse. It is in every living cell in the animal 
and the vegetable kingdoms. 

The basic principle of Osteopathy is ad- 
justment. 

The mechanics of Osteopathy is adjusting. 

The theory of Osteopathy is that, if the adjust- 
ment is made, Life, the great healing agent, 
will repair as far as possible all damages. 

— H. J. EVERLT, D.O. 



SCIENTIFIC PROOFS OF 
OSTEOPATHY 



The scientist is only an ignorant man well fed 
with experience. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy stands for the truth wherever it is 
scientifically proven. 

— H. S. Bunting, A.B., M.D., D.O. 



SCIENTIFIC PROOFS OF 
OSTEOPATHY 

By G. V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



DR. STILL has been described as, 'Hhe orig- 
inal citizen of Missouri to demand visual 
demonstration.^' He applied the ^^Show me'' 
test to the theories of medicine and to his own 
theories of treatment as well. He was always 
searching for demonstrable evidence of the scien- 
tific value of any theory. That which stood the 
test was retained as truth; that which failed in 
the test was rejected. 

From the first announcement of the osteopathic 
theory, there have been those who have pooh- 
poohed the idea of structural perversion being 
responsible for disease. Their conception of struc- 
tural derangements was limited to gross disloca- 
tions of the joints. They could neither recognize 
nor conceive that it was possible for minor dis- 
placements of the structures of the body to occur. 
That such should be a controlling factor in disease 
was to them absurd. 

Such evidences as have been gathered by 
trained observers point unerringly to the support 

[99] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

of the principles of Osteopathy as advanced by 
Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. These scientific obser- 
vations include those made in the clinics, in the 
anatomical and experimental laboratories of the 
several osteopathic colleges, and the observa- 
tions and experiments at the A. T. Still Research 
Institute in Chicago, besides the work of many 
individuals in private practice. 

The evidence gathered in the clinics shows 
that a group of symptoms in an individual 
which is recognized as a disease is with great 
uniformity secondary to certain structural devia- 
tions, usually of the ribs or vertebrae, which are 
anatomically associated with the parts in which 
the symptom or symptoms are manifest. 

Examination and graphic tracings of spinal 
structural relationships reveal that certain definite 
alterations of the normal relationships are asso- 
ciated with the disorders in the organs anatom- 
ically associated with that portion of the spine 
where such alterations occur. The readjustment 
of the structural relationships is followed by relief 
of the functional disturbances — the symptoms. 

In the hundreds of dissections of bodies that 
have been made in the anatomical laboratories 
at osteopathic colleges, observations have been 
made and recorded of existing altered relationships 
in the framework of the body which, it could be 
demonstrated, interfered with the blood or nerve 

[100] 



PROOFS OF OSTEOPATHY 

supply of organs that were found to be diseased. 
The same points have been observed and recorded 
at autopsies. 

The X-ray has repeatedly been able to present 
on the photographic plate a record of the faulty 
position of some of the ribs and vertebrae con- 
stituting an osteopathic lesion, when the same 
condition escaped the tactile sense of those not 
accustomed to spinal palpation. In numerous in- 
stances the X-ray has shown such parts in cor- 
rect relationship after adjustment by osteopathic 
treatment. The X-ray, then, offers scientific 
proof of Osteopathy. 

Besides the clinical evidences, the spinal 
tracings, the dissections and the X-ray findings, 
various animal experiments have been conducted 
by several competent observers over a period of 
about ten years. These experiments have all 
tended to prove the osteopathic theory that spinal 
strains, curvatures and slight displacements affect 
the nerves and blood vessels of the organs to which 
the nerves are distributed. 

The spinal lesions experimentally produced in 
the animals were not accomplished by violence. 
With the animal relaxed under anesthesia, slight 
displacements were made by pressure and rotation 
without greater force than a child might receive 
in play and immediately forget. After being 
under observation for varying periods of time, up 

[101] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

to several months, the animals were killed and 
careful examinations made of the site of lesion, 
the associated nerves and the organs to which the 
nerves were distributed. In every series of cases 
in which experimental evidence was thus sought 
for the support of the osteopathic theory, the 
nerves showed congestion and inflammation at 
the site of the lesion, and the organs they supplied 
gave evidence of congestion, inflammation and 
disordered functions. An account of some of the 
results obtained by animal experiments follows : 

DR. McCONNELL'S EXPERIMENTS 

Dr. C. P. McConnell has experimented upon 
healthy dogs, producing slight displacements of 
the vertebrae and ribs and studying the effects 
produced. The following is a summary of the 
results announced in the first twelve cases : 

^^In nine of the twelve eases, inflammation of the 
nerves at the seat of the lesion was noticed and in one 
a nervous degeneration was manifest. In each case 
the diseased organs observed were under the control 
of the nerves coming off from that part of the spinal 
column in which the lesion was made. 

Dog 1. — Showed a stricture of the small intestine. 

Dogs 2 and 3. — Had spleens very much enlarged. 

Dogs 3 and 4. — Became very sick. 

Dog 5. — Lost flesh rapidly. 

Dog 6. — Dissection showed an inflamed area in the 
stomach and an enlarged spleen. 

[102] 



PROOFS OF OSTEOPATHY 

Dog 7. — Became blind. 

Dog 8. — Became blind. 

Dogs 9-10. — Developed goiter. 

Dog 11. — Dissection showed hemorrhagic inflam- 
mation of the kidneys. 

Dog 12. — Died in three days with hemorrhage of 
the intestines. 

Thus the osteopathic lesion theory has been demon- 
strated: First, by the cure of disease by the removal 
of lesions; second, by causing disease by producing 
lesions.'^ — Journal of Osteopathy, May, 1906. 

Since the experiments referred to above, Dr. 
McConnell and his associates have conducted 
experiments along similar lines on several hundred 
animals, gaining therefrom further scientific evi- 
dences of the effects of bony lesions in the produc- 
tion of disease. 

His latest series of experiments have been rela- 
tive to the influence of the specific spinal lesion as 
a causative factor in goiter. 

The statistics cover about eight hundred cases 
of goiter in man and the experiments made upon 
twenty animals. Nine dogs having goiter were 
treated specifically. All showed reduction in size 
of the thyroid gland, some of the cases reaching 
normal. Tw^o cases kept, as controls, under the 
same hygienic conditions did not show improve- 
ment. Nine dogs having normal thyroids were 
lesioned specifically and six thus lesioned devel- 

[103] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

oped goiter. This proves, both by the cure of 
goiter in humans and dogs by the correction of 
lesions and also by the development of goiter 
in dogs following the experimental production 
of lesions, the scientific basis for the osteopathic 
theory that the cause of goiter lies in the faulty 
mechanical relationships of certain vertebrae as- 
sociated with the nerve supply to the thyroid 
gland. 

DR. LOUISA BURNS' EXPERIMENTS 

Dr. Louisa Burns conducted a series of experi- 
ments at the laboratory of the Pacific College of 
Osteopathy to determine the immediate effects 
of bony lesions. The experiments were conducted 
upon animals and human subjects. The animals 
used for the purpose were cats, dogs, guinea pigs, 
and white rats. In every case the animal was 
given an anesthetic and none were ever permitted 
to regain consciousness after once losing it. No 
anesthetic was given the human subjects. These 
were intelligent men and women in good health 
and ignorant of the nature of the reaction to be 
expected from the experiment. 

The experiments included lesions of the verte- 
brae, careful note being made of the inmaediate 
effects of the lesions experimentally produced. 
Cases were excluded from consideration where 
there was any doubt as to the lesion or any of the 

[104] 



PROOFS OF OSTEOPATHY 

observations. One instance of lesion, namely, 
the ninth and tenth dorsal vertebrae, is here given 
to illustrate the effects repeatedly observed. 

Animal tests showed that lesions of these verte- 
brae were followed by lessened peristaltic move- 
ment of the stomach and intestines; dilatation of 
the blood vessels of the stomach, intestines and 
pancreas; increase in the size of the spleen; 
accimiulation of gas in the intestines, and some- 
times the peristaltic movement of the intestines 
was reversed. In some cases, after the lesion had 
been maintained for some time, bile was found in 
the stomach. 

The human tests showed that lesions of these 
vertebrae produced a lowering of the blood pres- 
sure, increased reaction time, noises of moving 
gas in the intestine and a sense of sleepiness. The 
accumulation of gas in the intestines sometimes 
caused discomfort, but there were no symptoms 
of nervousness or headache that appeared, 
although these discomforts were present when the 
lesions of the vertebrae higher up in the spine 
were experimentally produced. 

The clinic records show that the diseases 
associated with lesions of these vertebrae are 
inflammation and dilatation of the stomach, in- 
flammation of the colon, congestion of the spleen, 
catarrhal jaundice, and constipation. 

The tests were carefully conducted and the 

[105] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

recorded observations add scientific proof to the 
osteopathic theory. 

Dr. Louisa Bums is now at the A. T. Still 
Research Institute in Chicago where she is con- 
ducting several interesting series of investigations 
concerning the relationship of lesions to various 
diseases. She has thus sununarized the scientific 
proofs of Osteopathy in the Journal of Osteopathy: 

^'If the work of Dr. Still had included nothing more 
than the recognition of the relation between mal- 
adjustment of bones and other tissues to certain forms 
of disease, this alone is enough to place him first among 
discoverers in the field of medicine during the nine- 
teenth century. That these slight misplacements, 
called ^^bony lesions/' do act as efiicient factors in the 
production of abnormal function is proven by the 
facts: 

1. The examination of patients suffering from 
disease not due to local injury shows that there are 
bony lesions affecting the regions most closely asso- 
ciated with the nerve centers controlling the organs 
which are abnormal. 

2. The examination of people in fairly good health 
may show that there are bony lesions affecting the 
nerve centers in certain parts of their bodies. In such 
cases it is found either that they are subject to mal- 
function of such organs, or it will be found later that 
these organs are more subject to infection, etc., than the 
rest of the body. 

[106] 



PROOFS OF OSTEOPATHY 

3. In persons who are sick, and in whom the bony 
lesion is found, the correction of the lesion is followed 
by a rehef of the symptoms; and if there has been 
no destruction of the tissue, by return to health. 

4. The examination of cadavers frequently shows 
the existence of bony lesions, and of abnormal visceral 
conditions associated with the related nerve centers. 

5. Shght and temporary bony lesions, experimentally 
produced upon human subjects, give rise to those 
changes in the pressure and circulation of the blood 
which initiate the beginnings of disease and the lowering 
of vitahty. 

6. Bony lesions experimentally produced upon 
animals are followed by circulatory and functional 
changes of the organs in closest central connection with 
them, and these changes are to be predicted from the 
location of the lesions produced. In anesthetised 
animals, the changes may be watched as they follow 
the production of the lesion. 

The physiological effects of the bony lesions upon 
the visceral, vascular and skeletal muscles and the 
glands of the body are explained by the anatomical 
relationships of these structures. '' 

DR. WHITING'S EXPERIMENTS 

Dr. C. A. Whiting conducted a series of experi- 
ments on the influence of osteopathic manipula- 
tions upon the germ-destroying power of the blood. 
In a letter he summed up the results of his work 
as follows: 

[107] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

"Of the Kttle I have done, the most important seems 
to me to be the demonstration of the increase of phago- 
cytosis (destruction of germs) as the result of mechani- 
cal stimulation. I feel quite safe in asserting that 
phagocji^osis is increased to marked degree by physical 
stimulation. In the early days of opsonic work, our 
drug friends beKeved that the only way in which 
phagocytic powers of the blood could be increased was 
by the use of some vaccine. I feel quite certain, as 
the result of a considerable number of experiments, 
that we get the same result by mechanical stimulation 
of the Uver, spleen, etc. If this behef is true, it is of 
great value to the physician, for not only does it guide 
him in his treatment, but it saves him from the necessity 
of introducing foreign serums into the body/' 

DR. DEASON'S EXPERIMENTS 

Dr. J. Deason at the laboratories of the Ameri- 
can School and at the A. T. Still Research Institute 
has been able to demonstrate in a scientific manner, 
by a large number of animal experiments, many 
of the practical workings of the osteopathic idea. 
Among the results secured with positive evidence 
by animal experimentation may be mentioned: 

That lesion of the spine affects the function of 
the pancreas, liver and kidneys, and is often a 
controlling factor in the production of diabetes: 

That spinal manipulations with fixation pro- 
duce marked effects on the functional activity of 
the internal organs: 

[108] 



PROOFS OF OSTEOPATHY 

That lesions by nervous reflex cause disturbances 
in distant organs: 

That lesions in the mid-dorsal region of the 
spine influence the secretions of the stomach and 
intestines : 

That abnormal action of the intestines can be 
caused and ended by manipulation: 

That certain manipulative work upon the spine 
causes certain definite changes in the blood 
pressure : 

That the secretions of the liver and kidneys 
can be increased by manipulation. 

These are some of the practical results of the 
research work along experimental lines which Dr. 
Deason has been able to demonstrate scientifically. 
In the next chapter Dr. Deason gives a summary 
of the work of the Research Institute. 

To review in a word the scientific efforts made 
to test the claims of Osteopathy, we find that 
clinic records, spinal tracings, dissections, 
autopsies, the X-ray, and animal experimentation 
each contribute their share of demonstrable evi- 
dence in support of the theory of Osteopathy that 
structural abnormalities are a fundamental cause 
of disease and that the cure of disease is accom- 
plished by the removal of the cause, i.e., by struc- 
tural adjustment. 



[109] 



There is only one thing to do with natural law 
and that is to obey. We may violate a man- 
made law and escape the penalty, hut this 
is not the case with natural law. The pen- 
alty for each disobedience must be paid in 
full. There can be no appeal. The only 
avenue to liberty and freedom is that of 
obedience. 

Osteopathy is unlike all other methods of cure 
in that it takes its stand firmly on natural 
law. Practitioners of this school attempt to 
cure by cooperating with Nature. Their 
aim is to '^ understand the law, to work with 
it and not against it.^^ 

— Geo. W. Reid, D.O. 



[110] 



A SUMMARY OF OSTEOPATHIC 
RESEARCH WORK 

SPECIAL ARTICLE BY J. DEASON, M.S., D.O. 

Former Director oj the A, T, Still Research Institute 



Lord, grease our heels with the oil of energy 
that we may slip forward a little. Keep all 
grease from our toes; we want them dry and 
sharp so they will hold fast to every inch of 
progress our greasy heels have gained for us. 

— A. T. Still 



An Osteopath should never speak until he 
knows he has found and can demonstrate 
the truth he claims to know. 

— A. T. Still 



A SUMMARY OF OSTEOPATHIC 
RESEARCH WORK 

By J. DEASON, M.S., D.O. 



DURING the past five years while teaching 
in the American School of Osteopathy and 
since coming to the A. T. Still Research Institute, 
by the aid of a number of assistants, we have been 
studying the principles of Osteopathy experimen- 
tally, and have, we think, determined some things 
of real value. 

In much of our work we have used animals, — 
monkeys, dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, — 
for the purpose of studying the results of osteo- 
pathic lesions. The animals are first normalized 
by keeping them under perfectly normal conditions 
for a number of weeks or months, and are observed 
very carefully. They are then lesioned by placing 
them under complete ether anesthesia and pro- 
ducing a subluxation in the spine. After this 
they are again carefully observed for a number of 
weeks or months and the results recorded. Only 
those animals are used for such work which are 
found to be entirely normal in every respect. 
After the animal has developed some disease or 

[113] 



CONCEKNING OSTEOPATHY 

perverted physiological condition from the results 
of the lesion produced, it is killed by means of 
ether or chloroform and a careful study, both 
macroscopic and microscopic, is made of the 
various bodily tissues. 

By this method of study we have found that 
nearly every organ of the body can be influenced 
by the effects of bony lesions (subluxations) in 
different parts of the spine. Such resulting con- 
ditions as abnormal physiological action and path- 
ological changes of the stomach, liver, intestines, 
kidneys, spleen, pancreas, adrenals, etc., have 
been positively demonstrated many times. A 
detailed account of this work would require too 
much space and would be uninteresting to anyone 
other than the physician or experimental scientist. 
The results of this work on about one thousand 
animals confirms the findings of Drs. Burns, 
McConnell, Whiting and others who have done 
similar work. 

The experimental work on dogs shows that the 
kidneys and liver can be affected mechanically. 
By osteopathic manipulation of the spine, it was 
shown that production of urine by the kidneys 
could be greatly increased. In some cases the 
increase amounted to more than one hundred 
percent. Since the kidneys are the filters of the 
blood it may be seen that the elimination of toxic 
substances from the blood may be accomplished 

[ 114 ] 




o 

o 

o 



a; 



a; 



OSTEOPATHIC RESEARCH 

by osteopathic methods. This has been put to 
practical test by many osteopathic physicians 
since the results of the experimental work were 
published and has proven to be of actual practical 
value. 

Similarly it was shown that the functional 
activities of the liver could be controlled. By 
measuring the amount of bile (counting the drops 
and by weighing) secreted in a definite time and 
then manipulating the segments of the spine from 
which segment of the spinal cord the nerves 
originate, which supply the liver, it was found 
that not only the amount was increased, but that 
it was higher in specific gravity. Thus we have 
definite evidence of the value of osteopathic 
therapy on the functions of the liver. 

When any animals chosen for this work failed 
to normalize, i.e., if they were not found to be in 
perfect health in every way, they were not used 
but were treated osteopathically, and in most 
cases we were able to normalize such animals 
after this treatment. Our work on filariasis in 
monkeys is an interesting example of this. Four- 
teen months ago we received two dozen monkeys 
which had recently been imported from the 
tropics. All but one were found to be affected 
with filariasis, a disease somewhat similar to 
sleeping-sickness, caused by an animal parasite. 
Two animals died before the cause was discovered. 

[115] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

The affected monkeys were then divided into 
two groups. Seven were treated by the best 
known medical methods and fourteen were treated 
osteopathically. Of the seven treated by medical 
methods all died. Of the fourteen treated os- 
teopathically, ten recovered. We kept a few of 
these to determine whether the recovery was 
temporary or permanent. As yet none have 
shown any further signs of the disease but have 
grown much larger and stronger which shows that 
the cures are both complete and permanent. 

It will be seen that our work differs from the 
work of most research workers in that we are 
studying the natural methods by means of which 
parasitic and bacterial disease can be cured rather 
than the methods of producing disease in animals 
and then treating the results by vaccines, serums, 
etc. 

Another part of our work consists of making 
a more thorough and careful study of human 
anatomy by dissections. It has been our purpose 
to dissect in such a way as to determine how we 
can best reach certain organs by manipulation 
and therefore correct abnormalities. This work 
has also resulted in gaining some valuable informa- 
tion. As an example of this we may cite the new 
method of treating catarrhal deafness. It was 
found that the pharyngeal opening of the eusta- 
chian tube (the tube which leads from the middle 

[116] 



OSTEOPATHIC RESEARCH 

ear to the pharynx) was frequently closed by 
catarrhal inflammation of the nose and throat 
and that deafness and ringing in the ears might 
be a result. It was Dr. J. D. Edwards, then a 
student in my classes, who put this information 
to practical test and it was he who did most to 
bring it before our profession. During the past 
two or three years we have been working together 
on this problem and now many of our physicians 
are successfully applying this technique in practice. 
While we have not as yet studied our cases suffi- 
ciently to know the exact percentage of cures, I 
believe that it is safe to say that we get favorable 
results in at least seventy percent of cases of 
catarrhal deafness. 

Another part of our work has been the study 
by means of bacteriological methods of vaccines 
and serums and their effects. We want it to be 
definitely understood that Osteopathy as a pro- 
fession or as a school of practice takes no stand 
for or against vaccination or serum therapy or 
any method of treating disease the value of which 
has been demonstrated. Our physicians, however, 
have not been taken by the sermn craze as has 
the medical profession, and this is because we are 
not without a reasonable and natural method of 
therapy. 

The results of our study of smallpox vaccine 
showed that there was no such material on the 

[117] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

market which did not contain various living 
bacteria which were dangerous. From specimens 
of such virus prepared by two of the best known 
manufacturers in America we isolated more than 
thirty different kinds of bacteria, eighteen of 
which were pathogenic or disease-producing bac- 
teria. For the results of this work in detail we 
cite the reader to the Journal of Osteopathy 
for March, April, May and June 1911. 

Some of our most recent work has consisted of 
the examination and testing of various nose and 
throat washes commonly sold on the market. 
Of fifteen such preparations we have not found 
one that will kill the bacteria in the sputum when 
mixed with it for as long as an hour, nor do they 
seem to have any marked beneficial effect on the 
mucous membranes. The above is only a brief 
summary of some of our work. The detailed 
reports may be found in the Journal of the 
American Osteopathic Association and other 
journals. 

I am greatly indebted to my co-workers in the 
A. T. Still Research Institute and others for 
assistance in this work, for without their valuable 
suggestions and assistance it would never have 
been accomplished. 



[118] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION 

OSTEOPATHY A DISTINCT SCHOOL 

— C. P. MCCONNELL, D.O. 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the American 
Osteopathic Association] 

OSTEOPATHIC TEACHING 

— C. C. Teall, D.O. 

[Reprinted from the Bulletin of the Atlas Club] 

THE OSTEOPATHIC CURRICULUM 

— R. H. Williams, D.O. 

[Reprinted by permission from the Osteopathic Magazine] 



Knowledge is the result of the training of our 
mental faculties in the school of Nature. 
Knowledge is Nature understood. He who 
knows the most of Nature is the wisest man. 

— A. T. Still 



After all has been said, after all theories have 
been spun, no matter by what school, the very 
kernel of the healing art is simply what can 
you or I do to assist Nature. 

-—C. P. McCONNELL, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY, A DISTINCT 
SCHOOL 

By carl p. McCONNELL, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY is great because its merits are 
inclusive of a broad field. Osteopathy is a 
system of healing, not alone a method of treat- 
ment. It is a system or school because it has a 
distinctive and embracing etiology, diagnosis, 
pathology, and therapy. Other schools are diver- 
gent on the therapeutic plane only. Therapeutics 
can amount to but little if it is not based upon the 
other factors, and those factors consist of etiology, 
diagnosis, and pathology. Thus the reason of an 
unstable and shifting therapy of the drug schools. 
What will make a school of the healing art stable, 
consistent, and hence scientific is its etiology and 
therapy. The latter, at best, is only a means to 
an end. Osteopathy presents, logically and prac- 
tically, this necessary fundamental based upon the 
bedrocks of anatomy and physiology. 



[121] 



OSTEOPATHIC TEACHING 

By C. C. TEALL, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHIC teaching is revolutionary. 
Old and accepted ideas were broken away 
from and an entirely new field of investigation 
was opened. 

In the beginning, a condition was found in the 
patient: it was corrected and the result was 
health. That was all the public asked. One 
ounce of cure was worth tons of theory and they 
did not inquire into the means of their relief. 
But adequately to teach Osteopathy a vast 
amount of original work had to be done. Anat- 
omy is anatomy but there is a vast difference in 
its application. Physiology must be taught to 
mean something more than an interesting phenom- 
enon. Pathology had an unfilled gap between 
cause and effect which must be bridged. The 
post-mortem had a great story to tell but an 
Osteopath must tell it. A slide of degenerated 
tissue under the microscope is of interest, but 
why the degeneration? It is described at length 
by the authorities but the causes and morbific 
changes are not carried out. Obstetrics along 
strictly natural and physiological lines insuring 

[122] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION 

both mother and babe against injury; gynecology 
minus the knife and plus common sense; all 
these and more had to be shaped to teach the 
osteopathic student. The archives of Osteopathy 
were empty a few years ago. There was no 
precedent to follow and the ideas in teaching 
which had prevailed for centuries dominated. 
All this is changed. The colleges teach the 
science along strictly osteopathic lines, making 
the application of the truths which have escaped 
the notice of centuries of investigation. 

There is a much discussed subject, just what 
is osteopathic and what is not. Dr. C. M. 
T. Hulett, at a Greater New York Osteopathic 
Society meeting said: 

^^ Every application, appliance, method or proced- 
ure used in treatment of disease may be classified 
under two heads. If its effect is to modify the vital 
processes themselves, it is medical. If its effect is to 
remove conditions which are interfering with processes, 
it is osteopathic. Among the first are most drugs 
used for their physiological effect, much surgery, 
electricity, hot air, vibrators and similar devices. 
Among the second are manipulation, germicides, 
regulation of diet, habits and life environments. If 
the X-ray or Finsen light will kill the lupus or cancer 
germ the principle of their action is osteopathic. '' 

That is the best opinion on that much-mooted 

question I have ever seen and it is a guide-board 

for all who are in doubt. 

[123] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC CURRICULUM 

By RALPH H. WILLIAMS, D.O. 



THE only material difference between the 
training of an osteopathic physician and the 
doctor of medicine is in but one subject, — 
therapeutics, or the treatment of disease. Nat- 
urally in the training of the doctor of medicine 
this covers drugs and their use in practice, while 
the osteopathic physician is trained in the applica- 
tion of the osteopathic theories to the treatment 
of disease. 

The American Medical Association requires a 
minimum of four thousand hours work in a period 
of four years and the American Osteopathic As- 
sociation requires three thousand, seven hundred 
thirty-one hours in a three-years course, the 
difference in time between the two courses being 
principally consumed in the greater requirements 
of the American Medical Association in the 
subjects of surgery and bacteriology. All of the 
recognized osteopathic colleges require at least as 
much time as the requirements of the American 
Osteopathic Association; the majority of them 
require over four thousand hours. Some of the 

[124] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION 

osteopathic colleges require a four-years course, 
maintaining a curriculum of over five thousand 
hours. 

The Regents of the State of New York require 
that an institution recognized by them shall 
maintain a four-years course contemplating not 
less than thirty-four hundred hours, or over three 
hundred hours less than the requirements of the 
American Osteopathic Association. 

One of the osteopathic colleges registered by 
the New York State Board of Regents maintains 
a four-year course with a curriculum of five 
thousand five hundred twenty hours ; over twenty- 
one hundred hours more than required by the 
Regents, and fifteen hundred hours more than 
required by the American Medical Association. 

In order that a definite idea as to the require- 
ments of an osteopathic education may be had, 
we append hereto a copy of the standard curricu- 
lum required by the American Osteopathic Asso- 
ciation of all osteopathic colleges which are 
afliliated therewith. 

Curriculum Required by the American Osteopathic 

Association 
Subject Hours 

Anatomy 540 

Physiology 324 

Chemistry 186 

Biology 72 

Physiologic Physics 54 

[125] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Histology 126 

Bacteriology 90 

Osteopathic Technic and Tactile Training 198 

General Pathology 108 

Osteopathic or Special Pathology 54 

Embryology 36 

Post Mortem and Medical Jurisprudence 26 

Gynecology 126 

Obstetrics (including three deliveries) 108 

Diagnosis (including General Physical Diagnosis, 

Osteopathic and Laboratory Diagnosis) 180 

Surgery (including Orthopedics) 216 

Dietetics, Hygiene and Sanitation 108 

Toxicology, Effects of Drugs and Urinalysis 72 

Practice of Osteopathy (covering Nervous and 
Mental Diseases; AHmentary and Urinary Tract; 
Infections and Constitutional; Circulatory and 
Respiratory; Skin and Venereal; Eye, Ear, Nose 

and Throat and Pediatrics) 432 

Non-Medicinal Therapeutics and Emergencies 18 

Amphitheater Chnics 252 

Clinical Treatments 324 



3731 



Under the head of Osteopathic Technic and 
Tactile Training will be found the requirement 
of one hundred ninety-eight hours. Unlike the 
training of the doctor of medicine the training 
of the osteopathic physician cannot be wholly 
theoretical. He must have the training in his 
hands as well as in his brain. He must learn 
to recognize by the sense of touch the slight 
abnormaUties which would escape the untrained 
practitioner. It is for this reason that the medical 

[ 126 ] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION 

practitioner is unable to recognize and appreciate 
the importance of abnormalities which can be 
discovered by the trained osteopathic fingers, 
abnormalities which are the keys to the success 
of osteopathic practice. The medical practitioner 
is endowed with the same sense of touch that 
the osteopathic physician possesses, but just as 
the ordinary individual is unable to read the 
books of the blind through the lack of special 
training, so is the medical doctor unable to 
recognize and understand the meaning of the 
slightly altered conditions which mean so much 
to the osteopathic physician in the making 
of his diagnosis and his treatment of diseased 
conditions. 

With the growth of the osteopathic profession 
there has grown up an appreciation of pathology 
from a different viewpoint as to cause and effect; 
an understanding of pathology supported by 
experiments demonstrating their correctness, a 
phase of pathology that is little understood, taught 
or appreciated in the existing works on the subject 
from a medical point of view. This growing 
subject is provided for in the osteopathic curricu- 
lum. Only recently one medical author has 
approached the osteopathic concept in pathology. 

The Principles of Osteopathy are the counter- 
part in the osteopathic course of the study of 
pharmacology and materia medica of the medical 

[127] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

course, and that which makes the training 
of the Osteopath distinctive as compared with 
the training of a medical doctor. 

The osteopathic student studies the human 
body in health as well as in disease, together 
with the body's own power of combating disease. 
The medical student spends much of his time 
studying the influences outside of the body which 
cause disease overlooking the structural condi- 
tions within the body which make the effect of 
the outside influences possible. 

The medical student completes his education 
and receives his diploma with little or no practical 
experience. The osteopathic practitioner, on the 
contrary, spends a considerable portion of his 
time during the last year's work in the actual care 
of patients. While this is, of course, under the 
observation of trained clinicians, the student does 
the actual work, and is responsible for the results 
accomplished. He has, not theory alone, but 
practical knowledge, drawn from the most efficient 
of all teachers, ^'Experience,'' to guide his work. 

No modern theory of the causation of disease 
is left out of his training, whether this theory be 
in the theoretical stage or has become a demon- 
strated fact. He is trained to recognize all forms 
of bacteria and is taught their relationship to 
diseased conditions. Every known and accepted 
method of diagnosis in use by the medical pro- 

[128] 



THE OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION 

fession is taught to him in addition to his own 
methods of osteopathic diagnosis which is pecuUar 
to and distinctively characteristic of the school he 
represents. 

In his fundamental training and knowledge of 
the human body the osteopathic physician stands 
second to none. 



[129] 



Osteopathy is a comparatively new system of 
practice, having existed for only about twenty- 
five years, and yet much valuable research 
work has been done along new lines. I be- 
lieve that no other school of practice, in pro- 
portion to the length of time it has existed, 
has done as much original and scientific 
investigation pertaining to the theories and 
methods of its treatment. I am sure that 
no other school has been more successful in 
confirming its theories by research. 

J. Deason, M.S., D.O. 



[130] 



APPLICATION OF OSTEOPATHIC 
PRINCIPLES 



Osteopathy^s own philosophy of surgery, mid- 
wifery and general treatment is complete and 
defies refutation. 

— A. T. Still 



A point that appeals strongly and is particu- 
larly gratifying to the osteopathic practitioner, 
is that not a certain line of diseases only is 
treated more successfully hy osteopathic work 
than other diseases, but that the entire field 
of medicine is covered by osteopathic thera- 
peutics. 

— C. p. MCCONNELL, D.O. 



APPLICATION OF OSTEOPATHIC 
PRINCIPLES 

By G. V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



THE application of the principles of Oste- 
opathy to the field of therapeutics has dem- 
onstrated that they are eminently practical. If 
the Osteopath could not accomplish in a better 
way things that have been attempted, or could 
not do things which would otherwise be impossible, 
there would be no excuse for his existence. In 
the charter of the first osteopathic school, the 
purpose of the school is set forth as being to 
'^improve our present system of surgery, obstetrics 
and the treatment of diseases generally and to 
place the same on a more rational and scientific 
basis.'' That this purpose has been fulfilled, 
the practical workings of Osteopathy bear the 
evidence. 

The application of osteopathic principles to 
meet the problems of bodily disorder has demon- 
strated their efficiency in practically all diseases. 
The individual Osteopaths may vary in pro- 
ficiency, but the principles remain true. Results 

[133] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

depend upon the degree with which the practice 
is made to approach the principle, Osteopathy- 
being both an art and a science. 

An understanding of the field in which osteo- 
pathic principles are applicable may possibly 
best be gained by a review of some of the basic 
osteopathic considerations in several of the general 
classes of disease. 



DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 

A nerve cell with its attendant fiber may be 
likened to an electrical battery with its attached 
wires which convey the power of the battery to 
a point of usefulness. Electricity may be inter- 
preted in terms of light, heat or motion — all 
different forms of energy. Nervous impulses in 
the body are interpreted in terms of motion, 
secretion, sensation, nutrition, consciousness, and 
by the special senses. 

In the case of electricity, the integrity of the 
battery, the wires and the end instrument, which 
evidences the impulses as light, heat or motion, 
must be maintained. The battery cell may be 
impaired, the wire broken or short-circuited, or 
the instrument may lack adjustment; in any 
case a failure of function results. With the 
battery, the cause of failure may be mechanical 
or chemical. The same is true of the nerve unit. 

[134] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

A mechanical interference, as by pressure, with 
the nerve cell, fiber or end organ, a chemical or 
vital change through degeneration of the nerve 
unit from exhaustion or impaired nutrition, may 
take place. Abnormal pressure is the primary 
cause of impaired function in either case. In the 
first, the pressure is exerted, by some structure 
out of its position, upon the nerve cell or fiber; 
in the second, the pressure is upon the vessels 
carrying nutrition to the nerve unit. 

The Osteopath is the electrical engineer of the 
nervous system. It is his aim to preserve the 
integrity of the individual nerve, cell, fiber and 
end organ by relieving them of any abnormal 
pressure, or interference with their supply of 
nutrition. 

Of the disorders incident to nerve tissue, we 
may have, as has been suggested, those that are 
either functional or organic; each with possible 
resultant disturbances of motion, secretion, sensa- 
tion, nutrition, consciousness or of the special 
senses. A great number of these cases of both 
classes have come under osteopathic observation 
and the osteopathic search for the causes of such 
diseases with the application of the principle of 
correction of structural abnormalities has resulted 
in lessening a large amount of human suffering. 



[135] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM 

Of the cases which have presented themselves 
for osteopathic examination, a large nmnber have 
been disturbances of the digestive system. Of 
these a portion have resulted from some abuse of 
the organs of digestion by dietetic errors, in which 
case correction of the errors of diet would be 
indicated, but most of the cases present some 
structural derangement which is manifestly inter- 
fering with the functioning of the stomach, liver, 
pancreas, or intestines. 

The stomach receives an extensive nerve supply, 
partly from the pneumogastric nerve which leaves 
the cranium and passes downward to be distributed 
to the organs in the thorax and abdomen, and 
partly from the nerves that leave the spinal cord 
and chain of S5anpathetic nervous ganglia along 
the spine. These nerves carry impulses that 
control the movement of the muscular wall of the 
stomach, the action of the various glands that 
secrete the gastric juice, the quantity of blood 
that is distributed to the organ and the nutrition 
of the organ itself, as well as sensation to the 
nerve centers in the cord and brain. 

If motion, secretion, nutrition or sensation be 
impaired in the organ, the organ is not to be 
blamed. One could scarcely, with justice, blame 
the telephone if the wires were down. Somewhere 

[136] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

there is a mechanical defect — an interference 
with the origin or transmission of the nervous 
impulses which govern these functions. A careful 
osteopathic search will reveal the point of inter- 
ference. A careful physical examination, with 
possibly a laboratory examination of the stomach 
contents if necessary, will give the evidence as 
to the functions impaired or of any organic trouble 
that may have resulted from long continued 
functional disturbances. A little engineering skill 
is needed to remove the interference and if suc- 
cessfully accomplished the organ will go about 
its work without further hesitancy, provided that 
these interferences have not been operating so 
long as to have produced organic changes. Even 
then nothing could be of greater value to the suffer- 
ing organ than to have its struggle for existence 
extended a helping hand by way of improved 
blood and nerve supply. 

One could supply from an outside source some 
of the deficient constituents of the gastric juice, 
one could knead the stomach and supply in a 
measure impaired motion, one could use an ano- 
dyne and relieve distressing sensations, but it 
would seem the more logical course to so put in 
order the bodily mechanism that the constituents 
of the gastric juice would be naturally supplied 
in proper proportion, the contents of the stom- 
ach be churned by its own power, and then 

C 137 ] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

with perfect digestion there would be no occasion 
for annoying sensory distiu^bances to reach the 
consciousness. 

The functions of the other organs of digestion, 
the Uver, the pancreas, the intestines, the colon, 
may likewise be impaired, and a long list of 
names has been applied to the various symptoms 
and conditions. In these as with the stomach, 
faulty diet, micro-organisms, etc., may play a 
part, but analyzed carefully it will be found that 
primarily the cause rests in some structural 
abnormality operating to derange the blood or 
nerve supply of the organ or part. In diseases of 
these organs it would likewise be the logical thing 
to find and remove such an obstruction, whether 
the case be congestion of the liver, intestinal 
indigestion, appendicitis, colitis, constipation, dys- 
entery, or any one of the list of diseases of 
the digestive tract, where the organic changes 
have not reached the stage of degeneration that 
might require operative interference. 

DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 

Under this heading may be included all dis- 
orders of the nose, larynx, bronchial tubes, lungs 
and pleura whether or not accompanied by specific 
infection. Nearly all of these, it has been shown, 
are primarily due to interrupted nervous impulses. 

[ 138 ] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

Since the nerves hold under their control the 
caliber of the blood vessels and so determine the 
quantity of blood distributed to a part, it is 
obvious that an interference with the vaso-motor 
nerves, as they are called, would result in either 
too little or too much blood being driven to an 
organ. Too much blood and we have a conges- 
tion; too little and the nourishment of the tissue 
is impaired — in either case the vitality of the 
part is lowered. Germs, whether they be the 
germs of la grippe, pneumonia or tuberculosis, 
find a convenient lodging place in tissue with 
lowered vitality — otherwise they might be de- 
stroyed, before they had time to multiply and 
colonize, by the white blood corpuscles which act 
as little policemen throughout the body, arresting 
and devouring invading germs. Perfect circula- 
tion through a part would mean that these police- 
men were ^^ covering their beat^' with due 
regularity and in sufl&cient numbers to repel any 
ordinary invasion. 

Osteopathic work by correcting any mechanical 
interference with the vaso-motor nerves to the 
lungs is of value in maintaining the normal healthy 
tone of the lung tissue by preventing congestion 
or faulty nutrition. It aids in helping the lung 
to resist the invasions of germs and in strengthen- 
ing and restoring to health weakened tissues. 

All diseases of the respiratory tract are not 

[139] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

associated, however, with germs, but in all, 
structural conditions play a large part, and the 
axiom that normal structure is a prerequisite of 
normal functioning holds true in disorders of the 
respiratory tract, whether the symptoms of such 
structural disorder be grouped under the name 
of asthma, hay fever, catarrh, croup, bronchitis 
or one of the acute infectious diseases. The 
essential point is to find the primary cause of the 
disease — that which is interfering with the nor- 
mal physiological action of the organ or part — 
and to set about to correct the same, with the 
assurance that God made man a perfect being 
and if there is failure in any function there must 
be a cause for such failure. 



DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM 

The blood is the chief agent of transportation 
in the body, carrying food to and waste from the 
tissues. The organs necessary to maintain this 
transportation system comprise a propelling force, 
the heart; avenues of distribution, the arteries 
and capillaries; also channels for the re-collection 
and return of the blood to the heart, the veins. 

Many of the diseases of the body may be found 
associated with some alteration or defect in this 
transportation system. ^^The reign of the artery 
is supreme,'' is the way the ^^Old Doctor" ex- 

[140] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

pressed it. In the consideration of the diseases 
of the organs of the circulatory system, we find 
disorders of two kinds — functional or organic. 

The heart receives nervous impulses by way of 
the pneumogastric nerve which tend to retard its 
action and from the cardiac sympathetic nerves 
which accelerate its action. It also has nervous 
ganglia within its muscular walls which are auto- 
matic in action. Variations in the rate or regular- 
ity of the heart's action indicate some abnormal 
nervous impulse received either over the pneumo- 
gastric or sympathetic nerves. These abnormal 
impulses may be purely reflex, as from exophthal- 
mic goiter, anemia, acute infectious disease, 
dyspepsia, overwork, stimulants, poisons, pelvic 
disturbances, emotional states, etc. However, a 
satisfactory explanation for all functional dis- 
turbances cannot be found in the reflexes. The 
pneumogastric and sympathetic nerves at certain 
points in their course pass in very close relation to 
some parts of the bony framework and if these 
structures are occupying other than their true 
anatomical positions they may be the source of 
direct interruption to the nervous impulses that 
should reach the heart. Osteopathic clinical 
evidence and the evidence obtained by animal 
experiment go to show that most functional dis- 
orders of the heart have as a causative factor some 
displacement, however slight, of the ribs or verte- 

[141] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

brae in relation with these nerves. The indication, 
then, in case of functional disorder of the heart, 
is to search for a possible reflex cause and remedy 
that or to locate a possible direct cause in some 
structural abnormality of rib or vertebrae and 
correct that. 

Lesions producing cardiac neuroses may lead 
to organic disease although many other indirect 
causes are recognized. In organic troubles the 
problem presented is much more difficult and seri- 
ous. While it would not be expected that the 
organic disease could be remedied, yet the work 
of freeing the nervous impulses that should reach 
the heart is of the utmost value, materially assist- 
ing the organ in performing its duty even though 
it is handicapped by organic changes. 

Functional disease of the blood vessels may 
result from disturbance to the vaso-motor nerves 
— the nerves to the muscular coat of the arteries 
that Osteopaths are so much interested in and 
which have their origin along the spine. Organic 
diseases of the blood vessels are of the nature of 
degenerations of varying kinds and degree. 

In all cardiac or circulatory disturbances the 
work of the Osteopath is quick, safe and efficient, 
no other method of treatment operating so in 
harmony with Nature's laws. 



[142] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

DISEASES OF THE KIDNEY 

A great deal of mystery has existed in the popu- 
lar mind as to kidney difficulties and, to one unac- 
quainted with the facts, it might seem that the 
application of the osteopathic principles for the 
relief of such disorders is but another addition 
to the mystery. 

The function of the kidney is that of elimination 
— to filter out and excrete the excess water and 
waste products from the blood stream. This fimc- 
tion is dependent upon the integrity of the epithe- 
lial cells that line the little tubules of which the 
kidney is largely composed. These in turn depend 
for their health upon normal nutrition and for 
their action upon normal nerve impulses. The 
nerves that supply the kidney, controlling the 
distribution of blood to it and the excretory 
function of the organ, can be traced back through 
the solar plexus to the center in the spine where 
any abnormal structural pressure will interfere 
with their harmonious action. 

The evidence regarding disease of the kidneys 
is obtained largely by urinalysis supplemented 
by a thorough physical examination and a careful 
osteopathic search for derangements of the ribs 
or vertebrae near which pass the nerve fibers 
just mentioned. When evidence is obtained of 
faulty action of the kidney, the next important 

[143] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

step is the discovery of a cause. Inasmuch as a 
nerve is with difficulty impinged while passing 
through soft tissue, it is but reasonable to suspect 
that the interference is at a point where it comes 
into more or less intimate relation with denser 
structures — bones or ligaments. The point of 
interruption to the nervous impulses having been 
discovered in the faulty relations of some of the 
ribs or vertebrae, the Osteopath sets about cor- 
recting the same, reasoning that if structural rela- 
tions are maintained, as Nature intended they 
should be, in all parts of the anatomy associated 
with the kidney, the organ will function properly, 
provided that the degenerative changes in the 
tissues of the kidney have not progressed beyond 
repair. 

DISEASES OF THE PELVIC ORGANS 

In the treatment of the diseases incident to the 
pelvic structures. Osteopathy gave the world an 
entirely new, and we believe correct, conception 
of the cause and cure of such conditions, proving 
a great boon to suffering woman-kind. Long had 
attempts been made to remedy the conditions 
found, but not one word in all medical literature 
pointed toward the bony lesion as a fundamental 
cause of such conditions. It is with truth that 
Mrs. J. B. Foraker of Ohio said: '^f Dr. A. T. 
Still had discovered nothing new in medical 

[144] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

science but what he has done for woman, his name 
would go down the ages as the greatest physician 
of any age and one of the historical benefactors 
of the race." 

The pelvic organs are delicately balanced, sup- 
ported by ligaments. Clothing, posture, habits, 
occupation, etc., all influence more or less the 
integrity of the supports and the balance of the 
pelvic structures, but with the ligaments maintain- 
ing their normal tone and proper tension organic 
displacements would not occur. The nerves 
which give tone to the ligaments and the vaso- 
motor nerves controlling the blood supply to the 
pelvic organs have their origin along the spine. 
Any structural derangement there would so inter- 
fere with the nerves that the ligaments would lose 
their tone, permitting relaxation, and allowing 
gravity, or other forces, to. carry the organs to 
abnormal positions. The deranged vaso-motor 
nerves, together with the faulty position, would 
produce congestion which in turn might lead to 
faulty functioning, abnormal secretion, degener- 
ation of tissues or tumefaction. To treat these 
conditions without correcting the primary struc- 
tural cause is but to treat the symptoms. Perma- 
nent relief could scarcely be hoped for without the 
removal of the cause. The Osteopath deals largely 
with causes, yet being mindful of the symptoms 
and conditions that those causes have produced. 

[ 145 ] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

There is probably no field so frequently invaded 
by the surgeon's knife as the pelvis, yet taken in 
time the majority of these cases could have 
been saved the operation and the suffering that 
preceded it, being restored to health and comfort 
without the knife. It is with causes that we must 
be concerned if we would find how the conditions 
that would eventually demand an operation may 
be remedied, and it is in dealing with causes that 
Osteopathy has won its great success in this as 
in other fields of therapeutics and prophylaxis. 
Speaking in this connection Dr. Lena Creswell 
says: 

'' Almost all of the diseases of the pelvic structure 
are curable in the beginning without the surgeon, and 
in truth, the osteopathic practice is revolutionizing 
modern surgery, but even yet the number of women 
operated on for pelvic trouble is alarming. Many 
are unsexed and it would seem that many of these 
necessary operations might be prevented if the women 
of our land possessed the proper knowledge of the care 
of their bodies. Many cases, which were formerly 
considered surgical, respond readily to this treatment 
but some cases, usually dating from parturition, must 
have an operation. I have found osteopathic treat- 
ment many times of great value to prepare the patient 
for the operation and it frequently is necessary after- 
wards.'^ 

'^The science of Osteopathy does more than all 
others to revolutionize the treatment of the diseases 
[146] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

of women and has advanced further along this hne than 
any other method. Osteopathic gynecology is based 
on facts. Our method is to locate the lesion that 
interferes with the blood and nerve supply and if 
possible to remove the same. We should feel proud 
of the record we have made in the treatment of these 
diseases. From year to year we are demonstrating 
a more complete method of treating the diseases of 
womankind.'' 

DISEASES OF THE SKIN 

Affections of the skin are a class of diseases that 
at first thought might seem beyond the reach 
of osteopathic measures. The skin exercises 
protective, absorptive and excretory functions. 
Overburdening any one of these functions may 
result in disease. The protective function may 
be overburdened, as by germs or parasites; the 
absorptive, as by chemicals; and the excretory, 
as by the defective action of one of the other 
organs of elimination. 

Such disorders may be divided into two general 
classes with reference to causes, external or in- 
ternal. Both may be combined. Of the external 
causes, probably germs are frequently a direct 
cause. To remove the cause, remove the germs, 
which may be accomplished by the application of 
a germicide. This alone is required; the recon- 
structive forces of the body restoring the surface 
to normal as soon as the cause is removed. Of the 

[147] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

internal causes, those traceable to some disorder 
of nutrition, metabolism or elimination predomi- 
nate. In the search for the causes, we are often 
led step by step back to some structural abnormal- 
ity interfering with one or more of the organs 
concerned with the constructive or eliminative 
forces of the body. In connection with this class, 
purely osteopathic work is of distinct therapeutic 
value, as has been shown by the cases of eczema, 
for instance, which have yielded to osteopathic 
work applied to the correction of the nerve and 
blood supply to the liver and pancreas after 
various other means for relief had been unsuccess- 
fully tried. 

ACUTE INFECTIOUS DISEASES 

The invasion of the human body by pathogenic 
micro-organisms gives rise to what are known 
as the acute infectious diseases, such as typhoid 
fever, scarlet fever, measles, influenza, etc. The 
battle is waged between the invading germs and 
the powers of resistance inherent in the body. 
On the one hand, the germs seek to destroy the 
harmony of the bodily functions by the production 
of poisons that spell death to the tissues; on the 
other hand, the body manufactures an ^^anti^' 
poison which neutralizes the poison produced by 
the germ and permits the white blood corpuscles 
to destroy the invaders or, at least, restrict their 

[ 148 ] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

operations. The question is, Which shall prevail? 
Once started, it is might that prevails. 

The physician should ally himself with the forces 
of resistance and his problem is how best to assist 
the body in its efforts to overcome the germs and 
the effects of their poisons. The forces of the 
body are capable of making the necessary resist- 
ance provided that there is no obstruction to 
their perfect operation. ^^No obstruction '' means 
unimpeded circulation in all parts and no inter- 
ference with the nerve supply to the organs whose 
function is the manufacture of ^^anti'' poisons, 
or to the organs of elimination. The effort has 
been made to produce some of these ^^anti^' 
substances in the bodies of animals and then appro- 
priate in the form of serums the ^^antis'' thus 
obtained for use in the defense of the human organ- 
ism. These are not of the. nature of a drug but 
rather of the nature of an antidote for poison — 
the poison produced by the germ — and as such 
their use is not at direct variance with osteopathic 
theories, although it has been repeatedly demon- 
strated that the body in perfect health will provide 
from its own laboratories sufficient of the ^^anti'' 
substances to neutralize the toxins produced by 
the germs, making the use of such borrowed 
^'anti'' substances superfluous. An instance of 
this is frequently found where a person may not 
be infected although repeatedly exposed to the 

[149] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

germs of measles, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, etc. 
The reason that these cases of umnunity are not 
more numerous is because so few people are in 
absolutely perfect health. 

Any means that will assist the organs of defense 
is of value. The Osteopath by opening every 
channel of operation for the fighting forces of the 
body materially assists in the checking or repul- 
sion of the invading germs, in the production of 
germicidal properties in the blood and in the 
elimination of the poisons from the system. Any 
other poison or drug entering the system at the 
time of the invasion but increases the burden of 
poisons to be neutralized or eliminated. 

DISEASES OF THE EYE AND EAR 

The eye and ear are organs of special sense. 
The eye is formed to receive waves of light and 
convey the impressions received to the mind. 
The ear is formed to receive waves of sound and 
convey and interpret them to the consciousness. 
Both organs are located in the cranium and nearly 
surrounded by firm bony walls. How then can 
osteopathic work be of value to disordered organs 
so deeply situated in bony cavities? With the 
delicate mechanism of the eye or ear, the Osteo- 
path does very little directly, yet in the treat- 
ment of diseases of these organs Osteopathy has 
achieved some of its most remarkable results. 

[150] 



APPLICATION OF PKINCIPLES 

Tracing the sympathetic nerve fibers of the 
eye backward toward their origin, the anatomist 
and physiologist have found that some of these 
nerve fibers, having their nucleus of origin near 
the base of the brain, pass downward through the 
spinal cord to the level of the upper dorsal spine, 
i. e., between the shoulders, where they leave the 
cord and, passing out between the vertebrae, 
join the chain of sympathetic nervous ganglia 
that are situated just in front of the vertebrae 
and lead upward through these ganglia and their 
connections and are finally distributed to the 
eye. This is a very roundabout way for the 
nervous impulses to travel in reaching the eye yet 
such is the course they follow. The eye has other 
nerves more direct in action controlling its mo- 
tion and some of the other functions, but those 
just mentioned being the sympathetic, control 
the involuntry muscles within the eye itself, the 
cahber of the blood vessels to the eye and so the 
nutrition to each individual cell that goes to make 
up the delicate organ. Any irritation or inter- 
ference with these sympathetic nerves would result 
in disturbances that might produce disease and 
impair the vision. It is not claimed that all eye 
disorders are amenable to osteopathic treatment, 
yet the application of the osteopathic principle 
of correcting all structural deviations, such as 
slightly misplaced vertebrae in the neck, has 

[151] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

resulted in so freeing the interrupted nervous 
impulses that frequently all the resultant symp- 
toms manifest in the eye were relieved. 

It could scarcely be expected that in this brief 
article mention could be made of all the symptoms 
and diseases of the eye that have been benefited 
or cured by osteopathic corrective measures 
applied to the structures in relation with the 
sympathetic nerves to the eye, for well authenti- 
cated case reports of the eye benefits are numerous 
in osteopathic literature. It is sufficient to state 
that the practice of finding what is wrong and 
fixing it, leaving Nature to mother the eye as she 
alone can, has resulted in demonstrating in eye 
troubles what a truly wonderful mother Nature is 
when unhampered in her work. 

In the treatment of diseases of the ear, particu- 
larly catarrhal deafness, osteopathic work has 
achieved a distinct success. The catarrhal de- 
posits and adhesions in and about the eustachian 
tube in this instance constitute the lesion and it 
is through the removal of these by manipulative 
work that the parts are restored to normal condi- 
tion and function. 

The osteopathic control over other pathological 
conditions of the ear is largely through the vaso- 
motor nerves that govern the amount of blood 
distributed to the parts or to some structural 
condition impinging directly upon the return 

[ 152 ] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

circulation from the ear, in either case the circu- 
latory disturbances result in lowered vitality, 
impaired function and possibly an invasion by 
micro-organisms. 

To find what is interfering with the normal 
physiological processes of the body and, if possible, 
correct the same — that is the Osteopath's mis- 
sion in dealing with disorders of the organs of 
special sense as with the other organs. 

CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES 

Constitutional diseases are those that pervade 
the whole system, such as chronic rheumatism, 
gout, diabetes, scurvy, rickets, etc., and are due 
to some break in the chain of events that govern 
the constructive or eliminative forces of the body. 
The character of the food itself may be faulty or 
one or more of the organs that are concerned in 
the preparation of the food elements for final use 
in the body as bone, gland, muscle, etc., lag in 
performing their functions, or some of the organs 
whose duty it is to dispose of the ashes of the 
bodily fires, the waste material, fail in their 
physiological duty and the result is general or 
constitutional disorder. 

To find where the broken link in the chain may 
be is the duty of the physician. To the Osteopath, 
the conditions presented by the symptoms of 

[153] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

constitutional disease would point, aside from di- 
etetic errors, to an interruption to the nerve supply 
to one or more of the organs that gave evidence of 
failure of function. The location of the mechan- 
ical cause for such interruption and the correction 
of the same permits again the movement of the 
constructive and eliminative forces of the body in 
an unbroken cycle, provided that the wheel of 
life has not been too greatly damaged by the 
weakened link having existed too long. 

FINALLY 

Osteopathy is not a cure-all. There are dis- 
orders that are incurable; there are diseases which 
need surgical attention; an anesthetic is a neces- 
sity; a parasite requires an antiseptic; a poison 
demands an antidote. There are considerations 
other than mechanical adjustment having to do 
with the environment affecting the relative pro- 
portions in quantity and quality of the life essen- 
tials, food, air, water, rest, protection, cleanliness, 
physical and mental exercise, etc. — all of which 
enter into consideration in the problem of pro- 
tecting the body from disease. Yet perfection 
of bodily structure must be maintained and it is 
the duty of the physician to assist in such main- 
tenance while giving proper attention to the en- 
vironment. Life forces he cannot give; tissue 
he cannot manufacture; tissue builders, except in 

[154] 



APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES 

the form of food, he cannot furnish, discretion that 
will maintain a proper environment is with diffi- 
culty imparted; yet structural perfection he can 
help to maintain: that accomplished. Nature — 
the Mother of All — with infinite wisdom main- 
tains in functional harmony, the body which she 
created and man's responsibility ceases. 



[155] 



Osteopathy believes that all parts of the human 
body do work on chemical compounds and 
from the general supply manufacture for local 
wants; thus the liver builds for itself of the ma- 
terial that is prepared in its own division 
laboratory. The same of heart and brain. 
No disturbing or hindering causes will be 
tolerated to stay if the Osteopath can find 
and remove them. 

— A. T. Still 



[156] 



THE GROWTH OF OSTEOPATHY 

FROM AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT A MEETING 
OF THE AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC ASSOCI- 
ATION AT KIRKSVILLE, MO. 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



This is a war not for conquest, popularity or 
power. It is an aggressive campaign for love, 
truth and humanity. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy has had its necessary growth and 
development amid surroundings that tested its 
right to existence at every step. 

— Geo. E. Moran 



THE GROWTH OF OSTEOPATHY 

By a. G. HILDRETH, D.O. 



THE poetry of Osteopathy has never been 
written. The essence, or abstract, of this 
great truth which has enriched so many lives has 
never been, and can never be, expressed in words, 
for it is so indeUbly interwoven with the everyday 
occurrences of so many different individuals that 
it will be impossible to collect in one volume the 
all that goes to make up a complete whole — cen- 
tralized at first in one man and his family, then 
divided with others until today it has to do with 
the lives of thousands and still is being handed on 
and on. Ah, w^ho dare attempt to write the all of 
the ^^Then and Now '7 Come with me in your 
minds and walk over this identical spot of ground 
some years ago; look at the little five-room cot- 
tage, the rooms of which were used as treatment 
rooms by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still and his sons; 
see the people scattered here and there around his 
home and the little office building, with the bus 
driving occasionally to the door, depositing its 
invaUd or cripple to see the then becoming famous 
^'bone doctor.'' Note a little frame structure, 
fourteen by twenty-eight feet, in the course of 

[159] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

construction just in front of the original five-room 
cottage. Get a glimpse, if you can, of those things 
as they were, and as they are so vividly painted 
in the memories of those of us who were here at 
that time, and you may have some conception of 
Osteopathy as it was then. 

Now turn your eye to the present, compare this 
building with those described. Look across the 
ravine at the well-equipped, up-to-date hospital 
and you will have some conception of the Oste- 
opathy of today. A comparison of the ^'Then 
and Now'' in material things only at the birth- 
place of this science is certainly very satisfactory 
and, no doubt, its progress has far outgrown the 
fondest anticipations of him who started this 
great work. But even with all this development 
achieved here at the parent institution it is in- 
comparable with our growth, development and 
progress made in the literary, social, professional 
and scientific world. For more than five years 
from the beginning of the teaching of Osteopathy, 
we numbered less than one hundred men and 
women. Then we were so few in numbers that 
we could all gather around his knee at one time 
either in the little cottage, in his home, upon the 
lawn under the trees, on the steps of his front 
porch, anywhere and everywhere and drink wis- 
dom from his own lips in all its purity and sim- 
plicity. We were so close to the fountain of truth 

[160] 



GROWTH OF OSTEOPATHY 

from whence all this wondrous growth has ema- 
nated, that we could not only see the results 
obtained by the corrective processes beneath the 
scientific touch of his fingers, but we were forced 
to absorb from his mind a part, at least, of the in- 
spiration of his thought, his genius and his power. 

Again, the results obtained at that time were 
not only an inspiration, but they were fraught with 
a knowledge, to those who were privileged to see 
them, that then and there lay the foundation for 
future professional careers by which the pioneer 
practitioners of Osteopathy have contributed so 
much to the strength, the solidity and the impreg- 
nability of the position we occupy today. Then 
and there were instilled through contact the true 
principles of genuine Osteopathy that must and 
will stand throughout all ages as the foundation 
of the earth's greatest system of medicine. The 
idea was then in its simplest, crudest, yet purest 
form. From that point in our history was thrown 
out an influence so deep-rooted, so pure and so 
far-reaching in effect that it is not only a part of 
us now, but is destined to live on and on forever. 

Then we were a mere handful; now we are 
numbered by the thousands. Then one college 
upon the face of the earth; now some seven or 
eight. Then our classes for matriculation num- 
bered but a few, now they run into the hundreds. 
Then one man with a very few assistants taught 

[161] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

all there were to teach, now it takes hundreds to 
supply the demand. Then there were no practi- 
tioners anywhere but at Kirksville and the hope- 
less cases of all the land contributed their share 
to make Kirksville and Dr. Still famous. Now 
our practitioners are scattered all over the world. 
Then the eyes of the public were centered here 
and the results obtained were given world-wide 
comment and notice. Now, good results are 
being obtained everywhere Osteopaths are located 
and oiu* good results are so common that they 
are expected and people are disappointed if they 
are not obtained. Then when people came to 
Kirksville for treatment, it was Dr. Still who 
cured them, whether one of his sons treated them 
or one of the assistants. Now the results have 
become so common that little notice is taken of 
the most seemingly miraculous cures. 

Then there was not a spot on earth where a 
graduated Osteopath could practice his chosen 
profession as a law-abiding citizen, according to 
the interpretation of the then-existing medical 
laws. Now almost every state of the union recog- 
nizes us with some form of legislative enactment, 
with many a splendid law to our credit. This, 
too, may be said of several foreign provinces. 
Then the combined influences of the earth seemed 
against us. Now, we are welcomed everywhere, 
in the home, the chiu*ch, the local community, the 

[162] 



GROWTH OF OSTEOPATHY 

state, yea, even by the nations of the earth as a 
factor for good. The press was a silent factor 
so far as we were concerned, unless occasion- 
ally when we were made the butt of its ridicule. 
Today, column after column is given to us in the 
great papers of this country, clothed in terms most 
complimentary to om: work. And the best peri- 
odicals now give us page after page of the most 
readable, educational articles, enlightening the 
whole world as regards our profession and our 
progress. Then there could be no systematized 
organization for the promulgation of our work; 
we were so few, we could only cluster around this 
spot hovering in close contact with the original 
center. But now we have our local, our state and 
our national organizations that are proving a 
wonderful factor in our growth. 

WTienever I hear people talk of shoals ahead or 
dangers coming, I cannot help but feel that if they 
could only have accurate knowledge of all the 
history of the origin and growth of Osteopathy, 
they could not possibly feel that way, for there 
have been so many things that could not but 
make the men who stood with their fingers 
upon the pulse of this great movement know that 
the Master Mind of this universe was guiding its 
course. It was true ^^Then'^ and it is equally 
true ''Now.'' 

[163] 



To the Osteopath, his first and last duty is to 
look well to a healthy blood and nerve supply. 
He should let his eye camp day and night on 
the spinal column, and he must never rest 
day or night until he knows that the spine 
is true and in line from atlas to sacrum, with 
all the ribs known to be in perfect union 
with the processes of the spine. 

— A. T. Still 



[164] 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

SPECIAL ARTICLE BY R. KENDRICK SMITH, D.O. 

When Harvey solved hy his powers of reason a 
knowledge of the circulation of the blood, he 
only reached the banks of the river of life. 

— A. T. Still 



The most that any physician can do in treating 
disease is to render operative the natural forces 
within the patient^s body. 

— A. T. Still 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

By R. KENDRICK SMITH, D.O. 



ONE of the most significant chapters in the 
history of the marvellous growth of Osteop- 
athy is that which chronicles its latest subdivision 
into the specialties. In the earlier days of the 
new school, all practitioners were obviously obliged 
to conduct a general practice, but as their numbers 
increased, and as educational and clinical facilities 
became greater, it was natural that some students 
and physicians, either by deliberate choice or by 
accident of experience, secured a much greater 
number of some particular class of cases or mani- 
fested a particular aptitude in some special line 
of work. This inevitably happens in any school 
of practice, or, as a matter of fact, in any other 
walk in modern life. 

The ultimate result today has been the de- 
velopment in Osteopathy, just as in all other 
schools of practice, of all the well-defined 
and the constantly increasing reputation of 
distinguished authorities in different branches of 
the work. Rapid increase in the number and 
size of osteopathic hospitals, clinics, and other 

[167] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

institutions and organizations has increased greatly 
the faciHties for teaching the specialties and has 
enabled the profession to amass a vast quantity 
of statistics proving the efficacy of Osteopathy 
in classes of cases heretofore supposed to have 
been without the scope of the new school. 

The American Osteopathic Association, com- 
prising, as it does, more than half of the entire 
profession, is a remarkable illustration of the 
scientific earnestness of osteopathic practitioners. 
The national organization of no other school of 
practice has anj^where near such a proportion of 
its followers as members. The annual conven- 
tions of this association illustrate this same point, 
as fully one-third of the members attend these 
sessions compared with the one-tenth which 
attend the conclaves of the national bodies of 
the other schools of practice. The official journal 
of the association has attained a height of scien- 
tific recognition. It publishes monthly technical 
papers on the various specialties and also the re- 
ports of research work and the results of hospital 
experience. 

Laboratory specialists have produced revolu- 
tionary results in their experiments in the A. T. 
Still Research Institute in Chicago. Dr. John 
Deason has succeeded in producing cures in an 
uninterrupted series of cases of monkeys afflicted 
with sleeping sickness, and Dr. Louisa Burns, 

[168] 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

one of the most eminent osteopathic text-book 
authors, has announced to the world the discovery 
of a new disease produced by yeast in the blood. 
She has also discovered that by testing the blood 
pressure it can be accurately ascertained whether 
or not any patient is telling the truth. 

Perhaps the discovery which has attracted 
more wide-spread attention all over the country 
than any other made in osteopathic ranks, during 
the past few years, has been that of osteopathic 
cure for deafness. This development by Dr. 
James D. Edwards of St. Louis, and Dr. J. Deason 
of Chicago, is another of those feats of bloodless 
surgery which were made so famous by Lorenz, 
the great orthopedic surgeon from Vienna, and 
Still of Kirksville, Missouri, the founder of 
Osteopathy. Instead of burdening the patient 
with various trumpets and telephones and other 
external devices to try to make a deaf ear hear, 
Dr. Edwards went right to the root of the matter 
and applied his treatment according to the basic 
principles of Osteopathy itself; that is, to the 
cause instead of the effect. Without the use of 
the knife or any surgical instruments, the dis- 
coverer of this operation, by means of his fingers 
alone, explores the back of the throat and the 
vault between the throat and the nose, breaking 
down the tiny adhesions which twist the eus- 
tachian tube out of its normal position. By this 

[169] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

method he is able to place the tube in its normal 
position and to drain it of its accmnulation of 
diseased material so that nature may have an 
opportunity to effect a cure. Many Osteopaths 
in different parts of the country have now learned 
this method. It is applicable only to catarrhal 
deafness. 

The cure of hay fever by somewhat analogous 
methods is the latest triumph in the achievements 
of Dr. Edwards. 

'^The Osteopathic Lorenz'' is a title which has 
been freely given to Dr. George Laughlin, pro- 
fessor of orthopedic surgery at the xAjnerican 
School of Osteopathy and osteopathic surgeon to 
the hospital at Kirksville, Missouri. For years 
Dr. Laughlin has been performing an enormous 
number of orthopedic operations, particularly 
for the condition which the famous surgeon from 
Vienna came to this country to operate upon, 
namely, congenital dislocation of the hip. In 
the middle west they have so recognized the 
superiority of Dr. Laughlin's procedure over 
that of Lorenz that they have named his modifica- 
tion of the Viennese procedure '^The Laughlin 
Operation.'^ Dr. Laughlin's modification of the 
famous Abbott operation for lateral curvature of 
the spine has attracted great interest in surgical 
circles in the west. In both of these serious and 
important operations. Dr. Laughlin utiUzes the 

C 170 ] 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

osteopathic principles of bloodless surgery to 
such an extent that the elements of pain and 
danger are greatly lessened and the possibilities 
of benefit much increased. 

On the Pacific coast Dr. Otis F. Akin is duplicat- 
ing the great work done by Dr. Laughlin. Dr. 
Akin has had experience in all of the great clinics 
in this country and Europe and has had the 
advantage of personal contact with the masters 
of orthopedic surgery in other lands. He worked 
with Dr. Abbott of Portland and has become an 
adept in the application of the latter^s method in 
the treatment of spinal curvatiu-e. Among Dr. 
Akin's triumphs has been his success with the 
wonderful operation for tuberculosis of the spine 
by means of which complete recovery is effected 
in a few weeks, instead of a few years as by the 
old-fashioned procedure. 

In the east among those who have been con- 
spicuous in the success of their achievements in 
the specialty of orthopedic surgery, may be 
mentioned Dr. E. M. Downing of York, Pa., 
and Dr. Ralph Williams of Rochester, N. Y., 
both of whom have accomplished much with 
their modification of the Abbott operation. 

In general surgery it is probably safe to say 
that no man in any school of practice has ever 
made a more brilliant rise than Dr. George A. 
Still, surgeon-in-chief of the hospital of the 

[171] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

American School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, 
Mo. Few surgeons in this country perform 
more operations during the year than does Dr. 
Still. Patients are referred to him by osteopathic 
practitioners located throughout the middle west. 

One of the specialties which has made phenome- 
nal progress in osteopathic circles during the 
past year is that of the care of mental diseases. 
At Macon, Mo., there has been established a 
large institution for the exclusive treatment of 
mental cases by osteopathic methods. Under 
the superintendency of Dr. Arthur Hildreth, one 
of the pioneers in the profession, and under the 
technical direction of Dr. L. Von Horn Gerdine, 
professor of nervous and mental disease of the 
American School of Osteopathy, the startling 
discovery has been made that a number of sup- 
posedly incurable mental diseases are cured by 
osteopathic treatment. 

In -Los Angeles the latest word seems to have 
been spoken in the co-operation of specialists 
among Osteopaths, as eight practitioners, each 
with an exclusive specialty, have opened a co- 
operative establishment where they all work 
together. The several specialties included in 
this osteopathic institution are women's and 
children's diseases, skin diseases, surgery, eye, 
ear, nose and throat, dentistry, mental and 
nervous diseases, X-ray and other laboratory 

[ 172 ] 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

diagnoses. The specialists associated together 
in this work are: Dr. Merritt M. Ring, Dr. 
Edward Strong Merrill, Dr. W. Curtis Brigham, 
Dr. Walter B. Goodfellow, Dr. Carl H. Phinney, 
Dr. Herman E. Beckwith, Dr. H. Brenton Brigham 
and Dr. J. Wesley Scott. 

The surprising interest of the public in the so- 
called ^Hwilight sleep '^ shows the tendency to 
revolt from the traditional methods. In no line 
of osteopathic work is there more amazement at 
results than in obstetrical work. Dr. Charles 
Still, son of the founder of Osteopathy, and Dr. 
M. E. Clark of Indianapolis, are two of the men 
who have attained the greatest reputation in 
this specialty, although there are hundreds of 
general practitioners who have accomplished 
splendid things in this work. 

^^ Better babies'^ by the hundreds are the result 
of the splendid work done by Dr. Jenette BoUes 
of Denver, Dr. Roberta Wimer-Ford of Seattle 
and a number of other noble osteopathic practi- 
tioners who are devoting their lives to the specialty 
of children's diseases and the campaign for the 
betterment of conditions for both mothers and 
infants. 

Tic doloreaux is the latest disease conquered 
in the progress of Osteopathy. Dr. Christopher 
D. Thore of Boston recently discovered an entirely 
new cause for this painful and intractable condi- 

[173] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

tion and demonstrated the simplest osteopathic 
method of removing it. 

Dr. Frank Farmer of Chicago, who is director 
of the case record department of the American 
Academy of Osteopathic Research, has attained 
national fame as a diagnostician. 

Dr. Carl P. McConnell of Chicago, one of the 
pioneer osteopathic specialists, continues to be 
known as a master of technique. Dr. H. A. 
Redfield of Fairmont, Minn., is known all over 
the coimtry in this school of practice as an expert 
oculist. 

The campaign against the great white plague 
receives added impetus by the work of Dr. W. 
B. Meacham of Asheville, N. C, who has dem- 
onstrated conclusively that there is a distinct 
relation between vertebral irregularities and pul- 
monary tuberculosis. Dr. Meacham has also 
proven that the adjustment of these bones may, 
in some cases, materially assist the process of 
recovery. 

Dr. Percy WoodalFs text-book on gynecology 
is an evidence of his standing in his specialty. 
Dr. Dain L. Tasker of Los Angeles has a monu- 
ment to his reputation in the form of his text-book 
on the Principles of Osteopathy. 

Dr. Charles Hazzard of New York City will 
always be looked up to by his former students 
because of the prestige of his book on '^Osteo- 

[174] 



OSTEOPATHIC SPECIALISTS 

pathic Practice/' Dr. Charles Teall of Fulton, 
N. Y., is known to the profession as an authority 
on displacements of the innominate bone. Dr. 
E. E. Tucker of New York City has for several 
years devoted his attention to the ductless glands. 
It is impossible within the limits of this chapter 
to include the names of many practitioners who 
are entirely deserving of mention as there are 
scores of osteopathic physicians and surgeons who 
have been modestly pursuing particular lines of 
research not only to their own advantage, but 
to the distinct advancement of their profession 
and the lasting benefit of humanity. 



[175] 



Osteopathic diagnosis means hut one thing: 
find the cause. 

Osteopathic therapeutics has to do with hut 
one thing : the removal oj the cause. 

— G. W. Riley, Ph.B., D.O. 



C176] 



OSTEOPATHIC INSTITUTIONS 

SPECIAL ARTICLE BY C. M. T. HULETT, D.O. 



Osteopathy is knowledge, or it is nothing. 

— A. T. Still 



Every great institution is the lengthened shadow 
of one man. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson 



OSTEOPATHIC INSTITUTIONS 

By C. M. T. HULETT, D.O. 



THE growth of Osteopathy on the side of 
individual practice is the way it is known 
to most people. They are less familiar with its 
institutional growth. Many are hardly aware 
of the existence of osteopathic institutions. But 
we want such people to understand that Osteop- 
athy can make a very creditable exhibit in this 
line. 

The profession is well organized. Its national 
association has over three thousand members 
and receives and disburses a large sum annually 
in broad-gauged public work. One hundred 
twenty-five state and subsidiary societies in this 
country and Canada serve the more local needs 
and interests of the profession and patrons. 
The British Osteopathic Society is active in its 
field in Great Britain. 

Periodical literature of a high order, covering 
the scientific, professional, public health and 
popular fields is well supported by the profession. 
Numerous text-books concerning the various 
branches of the science have been published by 

[179] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

members of the profession in addition to several 
brochures, monographs, and popular books and 
booklets. Both novels and plays, with osteo- 
pathic correction of a lesion as a key to the plot, 
have been received by the American public. 

Osteopathy has seven colleges in which young 
men and women are educated for entering the 
profession. 

The American School of Osteopathy, Kirksville, 
Mo. 

The Massachusetts College of Osteopathy, 
Boston, Mass. 

The College of Osteopathic Physicians and 
Surgeons, Los Angeles, Cal. 

The Central College of Osteopathy, Kansas 
City, Mo. 

The Philadelphia College of Osteopathy, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

The Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy, 
Des Moines, la. 

The Chicago College of Osteopathy, Chicago, 
111. 

Including surgery, the course of study is now 
four years. The curriculum evolved to conform 
to the osteopathic concept of disease, parallels 
the medical curriculum and produces thoroughly 
qualified physicians. 

Osteopathic hospitals and sanatoriums are too 
many to name here. Suffice it to say that they 

[180] 



OSTEOPATHIC INSTITUTIONS 

are well enough distributed throughout the 
country, so that any case, surgical or otherwise, 
may be cared for under osteopathic auspices. 
The American Osteopathic Association maintains 
a Bureau of Clinics which assists the local osteo- 
pathic organizations in the establishment of 
public clinics. In some of the large cities osteo- 
pathic clinics supported by the profession have 
been established for the care of such cases as are 
in need of osteopathic treatment but are unable 
to employ a physician. 

At Macon, Missouri, is a sanatorium dedicated 
exclusively to the treatment of mental diseases. 
Very encouraging results have already been 
obtained in cases of insanity treated there, 
although the institution has been in operation 
but a short time. The published records of this 
sanatorium show a higher percentage of cures 
under the osteopathic care of the various insanities 
than under any other known method of treatment. 

The Woman^s Department of the Bureau of 
Public Health of the American Osteopathic As- 
sociation is conducting a campaign for woman's 
welfare, national in its scope. 

The Academy of Clinical Research has been 
organized for the collection and systematization 
of osteopathic case records. The profession is 
co-operating in collecting and preparing the 
records for the use of the Academy. 

[181] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Osteopathy strikes a new note in the world's 
knowledge of disease. As to cause, course and 
cure, it is the great advance of the twentieth 
century. It represents a great basic principle 
correlating a multitude of lesser principles. Re- 
search, therefore, has always enlisted the liveliest 
interest of the profession, and steps were taken 
early to provide for it. The A. T. Still Research 
Institute was established for this purpose. Its 
two chief functions are original investigation, 
and advanced special teaching for physicians. 
Located in Chicago, to be convenient geographi- 
cally, its plans call for extensive laboratory, 
clinic, and hospital facilities, of the highest order. 
It is supported entirely by endowment provided 
by the profession and its friends. 



[182] 



OSTEOPATHY AND SURGERY 

[Reprinted by permission from the catalogue of the Ameri- 
can School of Osteopathy] 



Osteopathy has but little use for the knife, hut 
when no human skill can avail to save life 
or limb without knife and saw, then we are 
willing to use anything or any method to save 
that life. 

— A. T. Still 



There is hack of Osteopathy a lineage of the 
thought of all of the ages. 

— W. L. RiGGS, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY AND SURGERY 

By GEO. A. STILL, M.S., M.D., D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY has prevented so many thou- 
sands of useless operations and is so generally 
opposed to the methods of the old schools that at 
first thought it might be inferred that it is unal- 
terably opposed to surgery, and that a surgery 
course would find no part in the curriculum of an 
osteopathic school. 

Such, however, is not the case, as there are 
many conditions which from their very nature 
require surgical treatment; and it is not the 
purpose of Osteopathy to dictatorially oppose 
anything in the old school that is of real value. 

Indeed, when one comes to look at it, surgery 
and Osteopathy are from their nature more 
closely related than surgery and medicine. Os- 
teopathy is the physical or manual manipulation 
of the bodily structures, without instruments, 
one might say; while surgery in a somewhat 
different way, it is true, handles the bodily struc- 
tures physically and manually with instruments. 

Efficiency in either must essentially rest on an 
accurate knowledge of anatomy, supplemented 

[185] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

with physiology and pathology. Every study 
that must be emphasized in the groundwork or 
foundation knowledge of one must also be just 
as much emphasized in the preliminary training 
in the other. 

Medicine, on the other hand, is essentially 
based on alchemy and mysticism. It is note- 
worthy that all medical schools refer to themselves 
as colleges of ^^ Physicians and Sm*geons.'' It is 
also well to note that ^^chirurgery,'' from which 
we derive the word surgery, really means to 
^'manipulate.'' It is true that the absolute 
insufficiency of medicine has made siugery cover 
a great deal of ground and devise many dangerous 
operations that with the advent of Osteopathy 
will be, and indeed are, being made obsolete. 

In every case surgery is the complement of 
Osteopathy. Osteopathy adjusts structures so 
that healthy nerve and blood supply to the part 
involved allows it to combat or cure the diseased 
condition. When, through traimia, violence or 
other causes, this cannot be accomplished solely 
by good blood supply, then the local tissues 
themselves must be grossly readjusted. In child- 
birth, lacerations, certain types of congenital 
deformities, certain kinds of tumors, etc., surgery 
must step in. Surgery repairs cuts, removes 
tissues so badly diseased or degenerated that re- 
generation is impossible, and, as suggested, 

[ 186 ] 



OSTEOPATHY AND SURGERY 

complements the other part of rational thera- 
peutics. 

Thousands of cases that under the unsuccessful 
treatment by drugs were consigned to surgery 
are proven by Osteopathy to be readily curable 
without operation, but for those conditions where 
surgery is needed, surgery finds not an enemy but 
an ally in drugless science. 

Improbable as it seemed some years back, it 
is inevitable that in time Osteopathy and surgery 
(rationalized and changed much from its average 
status of today) will align themselves against the 
fallacies of medicine. 

Osteopathy, like all other sciences, must grow 
and develop, as from the nature of things it could 
not begin already developed. When the school 
was first organized, surgery was given a minor 
place. For one reason, the demand for practi- 
tioners was so great and so insistent and the 
supply so small that there was little time to learn 
things other than Osteopathy. But the success 
of the early men was so pronounced that the 
world began to demand that the osteopathic 
physician be able to do all the things necessary 
for the health and comfort of his patient which 
any other physician could do. It is especially 
noteworthy that aside from anesthetics (and 
antidotes) this has not and never will include the 
giving of drugs. 

C 187 ] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Neither osteopathically nor medically should 
the practice of major surgery and general practice 
be combined; and yet the general practitioner 
must handle emergency and minor surgical cases, 
must diagnose and advise major surgery, and 
have a fair understanding of its technique and 
results, and frequently must give after-treatment. 



[188] 



HOW OSTEOPATHY TREATS 
THE BLOOD 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



Let the Osteopath follow the course of the blood 
from the heart to its destination and return, 
and remove all obstructions, open all doors; 
for on it we depend for all the joys of perfect 
form and functioning, which is health. 

•—A. T. Still 



On every voyage of exploration , I have been 
able to bring a cargo of indisputable truths, 
that all remedies necessary to health exist in 
the human body. 

— A. T. Still 



HOW OSTEOPATHY TREATS 
THE BLOOD 

By C. p. McCONNELL, D.O. 



USING a commercial phrase, the blood may 
be at par, or it may be below par, as to its 
real value to the bodily economy. A person may 
be anemic when there is a diminished quantity 
of blood, for example, from a hemorrhage, or the 
quality of the blood may not be normal, as from 
impaired digestion. It is well known that pure 
blood is an absolute essential for health. The 
blood is the medium whereby all organs and 
parts of the body are suppUed with nourishment 
for repair and growth. 

The lajonan is fairly versed in anemia. He 
knows that it generally means a low-grade quality 
of blood. When a physician informs a patient, 
and he very frequently does, that he is anemic 
and needs building up, the patient is usually 
satisfied with the diagnosis. Then come the 
iron preparations ad libitum as well as many other 
so-called 'Honics,^^ to enforce a better character 
of blood, but the much abused blood too often 
sulks and really pays no attention to the ^Honics.'' 

[ 191 ] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Why is it that the iron preparations, for ex- 
ample, are absolutely useless when the blood 
analysis shows a deficiency of the element iron? 
For the simple reason that nine times out of ten 
anemia is not a disease but a symptom of some 
digestive disorder, as is a pain a symptom of 
some nerve disorder, and more iron is not required 
in the digestive tract, if the diet is right, but 
rather the ability to assimilate more iron into the 
system is lacking. Thus, it is at once seen that 
we must go back of the sjrmptom (an expression 
of disease) anemia, and seek the cause, although 
the symptom may be most pronounced and over- 
shadow all others. The various ^Honics^^ are 
well known to be empty dreams of past decades. 
The real tonics, outside of osteopathic treatment 
when indicated, are plenty of wholesome food, 
pure water, fresh air and exercise. 

There are five ways, at least, by which the blood 
is influenced and treated by Osteopathy. 

GENERAL TREATMENT 

It is a common statement of the prospective 
osteopathic patient that he can see how Osteop- 
athy can improve the circulation, but to attempt 
to cure an organic disease seems ridiculous. 
From his limited viewpoint, of course, the utter- 
ance is a sincere one. The patient realizes that 
any exercise or activity of the bodily tissues aids 

[192] 



THE BLOOD 



the circulation, and, to him at first. Osteopathy 
appeals as a variety of passive movements. The 
fact of the matter is, the general osteopathic 
treatment is less potent and precise than most 
of the other methods of blood treatment. 

The general treatment tends to equalize the 
blood distribution by aiding the heart action, 
drawing blood to weakened areas and dispersing 
blood from congested tissues. This treatment 
affects principally the circulation of the blood as 
to its distribution, a quantitative effect, and but 
little, and that indirectly, in a qualitative manner. 

LOCAL TREATMENT 

The various local treatments for treating the 
blood are purely treatments of distribution, that 
is, lessening congestion or reducing inflamma- 
tion, and increasing the blood to a weakened area 
or organ. To relieve the congestive headache, 
the congested liver, an inflamed ovary or a 
sprained ankle, requires a definite, specific treat- 
ment as and where indicated. The same is true 
to tone up an atonized stomach, a paralyzed 
muscle or a withered limb. 

REFLEX BLOOD INFLUENCES 

A congested brain, an inflamed eyelid or some 
poorly nourished organ may be the result of a 
reflex vaso-motor neurosis. That is, the little 

C193] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

nerves that control the cahber of the blood 
vessels may be affected reflexly from some diseased 
organ or tissue, the same as a pain may be a reflex 
symptom over a sensory nerve. Cold hands and 
feet are often reflex vaso-motor neuroses from 
indigestion. Cure the indigestion and the source 
of nervous irritation to the vaso-motor nerves 
of the hands and feet will disappear, allowing 
the blood vessels to normally dilate and act, 
consequently a freer blood distribution. This 
kind of interference to the blood supply may 
take place in any tissue or organ of the body. 

DIGESTIVE AND ASSIMILATIVE INFLUENCES 

We have now come to one of the most impor- 
tant methods of blood treatment. Here we really 
have to do with a blood disease. To influence 
the blood organically, to give the patient a rich, nor- 
mal blood, has been the medical problem for ages. 

Osteopathic treatment, unquestionably, offers 
more relief to the anemic patient than all other 
methods combined several times over. One im- 
portant way the blood is rendered anemic, that is, 
poor and deficient in red blood corpuscles, is from 
indigestion. The stomach, intestines, pancreas 
and liver not functioning normally, the intestinal 
juices not digesting the food completely, the 
tissues of the stomach and intestines not taking 

[194] 



THE BLOOD 



up the digested particles of food wholly and 
freely, and the blood not assimilating the same 
as it should, all result in non-assimilation, mal- 
nutrition, in a word, anemia. Then, what must 
be done? Tracing back the nerve supply of 
these digestive organs to their centers, seeking 
out the cause of the blockade of normal nerve 
impulses, and removing the obstructions is w^hat 
must be done. The Osteopath does this every 
day of the week in his practice. He finds that 
weakness and curvatures of the spinal colunm, 
misplaced ribs, and contractured muscles are 
frequent sources of the blockade to digestive 
nerves and dependent blood vessels. His work is 
to relieve and readjust the crippled parts — and 
it is work that he accomplishes most successfully. 
Absurd, certainly, to drug and dose the digestive 
tract proper when the cause is invariably further 
back, that is, in the nerves and blood vessels 
controlling the digestive functions. The digestive 
organs are below par as an effect, the assimilation 
is poor as an effect, although one point further 
removed from the cause, and the anemia is the 
remote effect that caps the climax. Simply a 
chain of pathological conditions, each symptom 
or condition representing a link, although the 
different links do not necessarily complete an 
unbroken circle, is presented. There is an origin, 
one link acting as the causative factor. 

[195] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Always give the anemic a liberal supply of 
good, wholesome, well-cooked food (there is 
plenty of iron, etc., in the food; it is a question 
of ability to assimilate it on the part of the diges- 
tive tract), pure water, fresh air in abundance. 

THE BLOOD ELABORATING GLANDS 

There are certain organs in the body as the 
spleen, adrenals, thyroid gland, thymus gland, 
pituitary body, etc., whose functions are little 
understood, although it is well known that they 
influence and elaborate the blood. It is not 
necessary in this article to go into any detail 
concerning facts as well as various theories about 
the functions of these organs. Suffice it to say, 
that they are organs that have secretions and 
functions that profoundly affect the health of the 
blood and as a consequence other tissues indirectly. 
Osteopathy treats these organs and their disorders 
successfully, and thus the blood. 

Osteopathy also offers much along the line of 
treatment of rendering and keeping the blood 
germicidal. Consideration of the germicidal con- 
stituents of the blood, or alexins, is important but 
hardly comes within the scope of this article. 

An equivalent to health is pure blood, normal 
in amount and freely circulating. 

[196] 



OSTEOPATHY AND THE GERM 
THEORY 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



Has chemistry ever detected a failure in the 
normal processes in the fluids of life? Has 
it ever found imperfection in the fluid itself, 
or in any part or principle of the whole 
economy of life? 

— A. T. Still 



A fact may and oftentimes does stay before our 
eyes for all time powerful in truth, but we 
heed not its lessons. 

— A. T. Still 



OSTEOPATHY AND THE GERM 
THEORY 

By R. E. HAMILTON, M.Pd., D.O. 



PRACTICALLY all the demonstrated facts of 
bacteriology are in strict accord with the 
principles of Osteopathy as laid down by its 
founder and each year the theories regarding the 
cure of diseases in which bacteria play a part 
come closer to osteopathic ideas. 

In the present theory of bacterial infection, 
the following facts are well established. Of the 
coimtless varieties of bacteria only a few are 
capable of producing or influencing the course of 
disease. The conditions for infection are virulence 
of the germ, its large numbers and weakness of 
the tissues. This last is in most cases a cardinal 
condition, for it is now proved that the tissues 
and fluids of the body are normally resistant to 
the action of bacteria and that bacteria may 
scarcely ever find lodgment in healthy tissue. 
This is in complete accord with the osteopathic 
idea that injury to an organ may come only 
through obstruction to blood and nerve supply 
(including disturbances in other parts of the 

[199] 



CONCEKNING OSTEOPATHY 

body), lack of use, overuse, or direct injury from 
external forces. 

It is perhaps true that the virulence of germs 
may be such that a few of them may set up dis- 
turbances in a healthy organism, but these cases 
as disease producers are undoubtedly rare. Some 
of the conditions lowering the normal resistance 
of the body to germ diseases are under-feeding 
and feeding upon foods lacking in some element 
necessary to the body; prolonged exposure 
to cold; intoxication by alcohol or other drugs; 
traumatic injury; severe hemorrhage; fatigue; 
depressing hygienic conditions and disease. 



HOW TO PREVENT INFECTIOUS DISEASES 

Reasoning from the above given causes of 
bacterial diseases, the answer to the question, 
how to prevent them, is simple. First, keep the 
body in the best possible condition; then, avoid 
the chance for contact with disease-producing 
germs. 

To maintain the health of the body, the well 
known rules of hygiene must be observed. Eat 
the things which are known to agree with your 
digestion; exercise moderately; rest and sleep 
regularly; avoid excesses and exposures; and 
have corrected the bodily disturbances due to 
the accidents of life. 

[200] 



THE GERM THEORY 



Since nearly all disease germs flourish in dead 
animal and vegetable matter, obviously, cleanli- 
ness of person and surroundings is the best means 
of avoiding contact with infectious germs. 

The approved methods of removing and destroy- 
ing infectious material are by the use of soap and 
water, exposure to heat, exposure to sunlight, 
and the use of chemicals. All these are effective 
under the proper conditions so long as the germs 
are outside the body. 

THE CURE OF GERM DISEASES 

Ever since the discovery of disease-producing 
bacteria, physicians have worked eagerly to find 
some drug which would kill disease germs after 
they had lodged in the tissues. On account of 
the numerous reported internal antiseptics, there 
is a rather firmly grounded belief in the minds of 
the majority of the laity that drugs are able to 
kill infectious germs in the body substance. 
This belief has also been held by part at least of 
the physicians, but is being rapidly abandoned. 
A few quotations from the writings of ^ Sir Almroth 
E. Wright, one of the greatest bacteriologists of 
today, will show the present status of antiseptic 
dosage. 

^ Sir Almroth E. Wright, Enghsh bacteriologist, discoverer 
of opsonins — noted for his discoveries in bacteriology. 

[201] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

''For some time past it has been all but universally 
recognized that it is futile to attempt to check bacterial 
growth in the interior of the organism by our present 
antiseptics which have a greater affinity for constituent 
elements of the body than they have for any bacteria/' 

''Significant in this connection appears to me the 
fact that antiseptics are now by general consent aban- 
doned in the treatment of ordinary surgical wounds. 
Significant also is it that the practice of introducing 
antiseptics into abscess cavities, which was erstwhile 
so coromon, is now less and less frequently resorted to. 
Significant again is it that the treatment by antiseptics 
in case of bacterial invasions of mucus membranes is 
today more and more frequently followed up by 
curetting, scraping and so-called radical operations. 
Above all, significant is it that so distinguished a 
dermatologist as Sabourand ^ should sum up the re- 
sults of antiseptic treatment of bacterial disease of 
the skin as follows: 'Curious indeed is the failure of 
antiseptics in connection with the treatment of bacterial 
diseases of the skin. Quite colossal were the expecta- 
tions which were entertained with regard to what 
would be effected by these. What antiseptics have 
accompHshed by their agency is in point of fact next 
to nothing. The results which have been obtained in 
connection with pulmonary infections by antiseptic 
inhalations and in connection with bacterial infections 
of the genito-urinary passages by "urinary'' and other 
antiseptics are, I am persuaded, neither better nor 

^ Sabourand, French dermatologist, head of the greatest skin 
clinic in the world. 
[202] 



THE GERM THEORY 



worse than those which have been obtained in connec- 
tion with diseases of the skin. Now all of this failure 
of antiseptics is, I am persuaded, only what might 
have been expected.' '' 

THE BODY'S DEFENSE 

Having seen that germicidal drugs are worse 
than useless for curing infectious diseases, let us 
examine the defense of the body against bacteria 
and their poisons. Most noticeable of the body's 
germ destroyers are the white cells of the blood, 
the action of some of which — the phagocytes — 
is to ingest and destroy the invading organism. 
There are also some tissue cells which possess 
this property. But the body has other defense 
in the activity of substances detrimental to the 
growth of bacteria and antidotal to their toxic 
substances. (See the theories of Metchnikof,^ 
Biichner, Ehrlich and others.) All experiment 
goes to show that the more nearly normal the 
body organism is, the more of these ^^anti'^ 
substances can be produced for defense against 
disease. 



^ Metchnikof, late bacteriologist at Pasteur Institute. Well 
known because of his writings on kumiss and old age. Biichner, 
German bacteriologist, inventor of process for extraction of en- 
zymes. Ehrlich, German "wizard of chemistry." Discoverer 
of numerous compounds. 

[203] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

ARTIFICIAL SERUMS 

It has somewhat recently been discovered that 
in defense against mild infections, antitoxins were 
produced in excess in the blood and many experi- 
ments have been performed for the purpose of 
determining if this excessive activity of the blood 
could not be made use of by producing ^^ animal- 
made'^ antidotes for bacterial poisons. With a 
few exceptions, these experiments have been 
failures. The apparent success of diphtheria 
antitoxin has encouraged great hopes in this line 
of work. 

Contrary to the general idea, the theory of 
antitoxins is not in conflict with osteopathic 
theories of disease (which, by the way, have from 
the first recognized the importance of antidotes to 
poisons), the osteopathic idea being, as before 
stated, that the body furnishes its own cure. If 
we are able to make one animal manufacture an 
antidote to bacterial poisons for another one, 
we have simply gained a new antidote to poisons. 
It is not within the province of this article to 
discuss serum therapy, but it should be added 
that the question of antitoxins is much more 
complicated than the uninitiated would suspect, 
and there are many, and in some cases insur- 
mountable, difficulties in the way of successful 
antitoxin application. 

[ 204 ] 



THE GERM THEORY 



THE RATIONAL CURE 

Taking into consideration the facts as above 
set forth, the physician is able to assist in the 
cure of infectious diseases by the following pro- 
cedures : 

1. Placing the patient in the best hygienic sur- 
roundings with fresh air, quiet and rest (in acute cases) . 

2. Since nourishment is a factor in infection, he 
may see that the patient gets the best food possible 
for his condition. 

3. He should find and remove any other cause of 
weakness, so-called constitutional treatment. It is 
in this third condition that the Osteopath claims the 
superiority of his methods of handhng cases of bacterial 
diseases, for we can find no physiologic reason for the 
administration of drugs for the purpose of effecting a 
cure. 

These causes of weakness are as follows: Im- 
pediments to the blood and nerve supply to the 
stomach and intestines, (the source of nourish- 
ment); to the kidneys, (the organs of elimina- 
tion); to the heart, (the blood distributor); to 
the lungs, (the organs of respiratory exchange); 
and to the brain and spinal cord, (the controlling 
factor for all the rest). 

It is a common occurrence for physicians to 
stimulate one or more of these organs in acute 
fevers, but obviously this is like whipping a tired 

[205] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

horse and may be fatal when reaction sets m. 
How much more logical it is to give the organism 
the best possible opportunity by removing all 
obstructions and letting it do its work in its own 
way. 

The tendency of all nature is toward the normal 
condition and natiu'al force is the great healer in 
all disease. 



[206] 



THE VALUE OF OSTEOPATHY 
TO THE CHILD 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Osteopathy] 



We love every man, woman and child of our 
race, so much that we have enlisted and 
placed our lives in front of the enemy for 
their good and the good of all coming genera- 
tions. 

— A. T. Still 



Ignorance, the mother of intolerance, bigotry 
and superstition, the arch enemy of all prog- 
ress, is responsible for a great deal of this 
world^s suffering, including many of the dis- 
orders of childhood. 

— Geo. W. Reid, D.O. 



THE VALUE OF OSTEOPATHY 
TO THE CHILD 

By MINA ABBOTT ROBINSON, D.O. 



IT is the duty of every osteopathic physician 
not only to treat the various maladies of 
children, but to teach the parents how to keep 
their offspring physically strong and healthy, 
as many serious diseases might be prevented by 
regular and careful physical examination of the 
child. Parents should be told that the careless 
handling of infants often produces lesions of the 
delicate structures. If these lesions are allowed 
to remain uncorrected, they may mean suffering 
and even invaUdism in later life. We call to 
mind a case where a parent persisted in swinging 
a child by its arms, producing upper dorsal and 
rib lesions. As a result the child developed 
asthma, which was finally cured by osteopathic 
correction of these lesions. How often just such 
cases do not have the good fortune to receive the 
proper treatment! 

Again, through the ignorance of the parents 
many children develop spinal curvatures, induced 
by faulty postures during the time of development 

[209] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

of the physiologic cervico-lumbar curves. We 
find many curvatures and various abnormal 
conditions of bony structure, brought on by 
allowing school children to assmne careless and 
wrong positions while reading and writing. Of 
great importance to the growing child is the 
correct position in standing and walking, as a 
good carriage, with chest well forward, means 
better oxygenation, as well as a correct and 
better position and relation of pelvic and ab- 
dominal viscera. Then, too, there are the in- 
evitable falls and blows which may produce 
direct lesions, thereby lowering resistance and 
paving the way for disease. 

Hence the importance and necessity of having 
children examined, at least twice a year, and 
particularly following falls or injuries of any 
kind, by a competent Osteopath, since the early 
recognition and correction of any abnormal 
condition that may predispose to or maintain 
disease, will not only relieve suffering but will 
make for a stronger and better race by preventing 
the development of chronic pathologic processes. 

Himianity owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. 
Still for having given to the world a system of 
therapeutics that can do so much in the prevention 
of disease by keeping its children well and strong. 



[210] 



WOMAN AND OSTEOPATHY 

[Reprinted by permission from the Osteopathic Magazine] 



We are to improve upon the failures of the past 
and give the people a science of healing with 
a philosophy that will feed the minds of the 
thinking. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy possesses the greatest therapeutic 
agent known to science. That agent is 
simply nothing more than the adjustment of 
structure. 

— Geo. M. Laughlin, D.O. 



WOMAN AND OSTEOPATHY 

ROBERTA WIMER-FORD, D.O. 



RECENTLY, at an afternoon gathering a 
prominent lecturer was asked, ^^What are 
the greatest things the past century has brought 
to women?'' He repHed, ^^ Equal suffrage and 
Osteopathy." Without stopping to discuss the 
first, we agree with the second. 

It was a wonderful thing for the world to learn 
that Osteopathy could safely carry a babe, from 
the day of his birth through all the experiences, 
conditions and vicissitudes of dentition, measles, 
mumps, rashes, indigestions, whooping-cough, the 
green apple period and the thousand other little 
aches, without one drop of drugs! 

That it could chaperone the girl through 
adolescence into maturity, causing her to arrive 
well, strong, rosy, athletic, free from ^^ nerves'' 
and their accompanying consequences seems 
marvellous. 

But perhaps its crowning success was its 
ability to remove from women the terrors that 
for ages have been associated with partm-ition 
and its preceding days. 

[213] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

To experience the speedy banishing of the 
unspeakable wretchedness accompanying '' morn- 
ing sickness/' to be certain that the various aches 
and distresses that arise throughout the whole 
period could be routed, to know the hours of 
labor would be much shortened, and the pains 
greatly lessened, certainly was a wonderful emanci- 
pation for half of the race. 

Reflecting on this experience, and this knowl- 
edge, and on the facts that babies born of mothers 
who had had osteopathic treatment during gesta- 
tion and parturition were stronger, more robust 
and happier, and that the mothers themselves 
recovered their strength more rapidly and were 
able to preserve good figures, — wasn't it the 
most natural thing that the lectiu'er should speak 
of Osteopathy as one of the best gifts of the 
century? 

When it became generally known that con- 
stipation, flatulence, and the depressing train of 
symptoms associated with indigestion and head- 
aches could be banished permanently by Oste- 
opathy, and when it was shown that backaches, 
legaches, and all the other aches intruding upon 
the menstrual period, instead of having to be 
endured, as women had for ages done, supposing 
it to be their inevitable fate, could be cured 
without drug or knife, and all these nightmares 
of suffering relieved or prevented entirely, thou- 

[214] 



WOMAN AND OSTEOPATHY 

sands of women everywhere sought the services 
of Osteopathy and sang its ^^hallelujahs.'' While 
for the woman experiencing the menopause, 
^^ change of life/' or to one with nervous exhaus- 
tion, the comfort and benefit that Osteopathy 
affords is almost past belief. 

Thus it has been shown that from the minute 
of her arrival into this existence to the hour 
of her departure, Osteopathy is the intimate, 
personal, constant friend and benefactor of 
womankind. 



[215] 



The osteopathic concept of the human organism 
conflicts seriously with the old order of 
beliefs. It is purely scientific and insists 
that the explanation for abnormal functions 
is true both as to physical and psychical 
nature and must be explained by and through 
defective anatomy, or defective adjustments of 
part to part in the organism as a mechanism; 
holding firm to the truth that every activity 
performed by the organism, either physical or 
psychical, that concerns us as physicians, is 
the product of cellular activity, whether desir- 
able or undesirable in character. When the 
functioning is of an undesirable nature, the 
explanation thereof must be present in the 
organism, just as a desirable function has its 
foundation in structure. 

That this view of the organism is a truth, 
is very difficult of acceptation by many. It 
furnishes the explanation of why so many are 
unable to accept the osteopathic point of view. 
To do so necessitates a readjustment of many 
views which have been held since the earliest 
years of life. These old beliefs do not die 
without making protests. 

— C. B. Atzen, d.o. 



OSTEOPATHY A PREVENTIVE 
OF DISEASE 



/ have long believed that an engineer of the 
human body was the sick man^s only hope. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathic treatment is prophylactic because 
the physical defects in the anatomical 
structure may be discovered long before they 
begin to create much disturbance in function. 

— Orren E. Smith, D.O. 



OSTEOPATHY A PREVENTIVE 
OF DISEASE 

By G. V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



PREVENTION is today the key-note of all 
thought having reference to disease. In 
the past the greatest consideration was given to 
the element of cure, but with the advance of 
hygiene, dietetics, and sanitation the thought is 
concentrating more and more about the idea of 
prevention. Prevention is acknowledged as better 
than cure and efforts are being directed to make 
the ideal a reality. 

The idea of prevention has three phases, two 
of which are commonly recognized by hygienists 
and sanitary engineers. The first is the applica- 
tion of preventive hygiene to society and the 
second is its application to the individual, the 
component of society. The third consideration 
is distinctly a contribution of the osteopathic 
school, going beyond the general sanitation of a 
social group and the hygiene of the individual to 
the hygiene of each of the twenty-six billion cells 
that go to make up the structure of that individual. 

[219] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

Dr. Still has expressed it, '^AU of the blood 
must move all of the time in all parts to and from 
the organs." And again, ^'A disturbed artery- 
marks the beginning to an hour and a minute 
when disease begins to sow its seed of destruction 
in the human body. The rule of the artery must 
be absolute, universal and unobstructed, or 
disease will be the result''; for the blood stream 
carrying the nutrition to and the waste material 
from the individual cells, which are bathed in 
lymph, accomplishes the hygienic supervision of 
the life of each cell. 

This is wherein Osteopathy scores a point in 
advancement over accepted means of sanitary 
and hygienic prophylaxis. It recognizes and 
employs all the scientific teachings of sanitation 
and hygiene and at the same time carries the 
health campaign beyond the individual to the 
individual cell. As society is made up of indi- 
viduals, so the human organism is made up of 
cells, and in the last analysis the health of the 
community, of the individual and of the component 
parts of the individual are all primarily dependent 
upon the integrity of the unit of animal life, the 
cell. 

"The individual cells of the body depend on the 
supply of nourishment brought to them by the circulat- 
ing fluids of the body. The protoplasm of the cell is a 
complex, chemical substance made up of an enormous 
[220] 




The ''Old Doctor" Studying a Femur 

" The better I am acquainted with the parts and principles of this 
machine — man — the louder it speaks that from start to finish it is the 
work of some trustworthy architect; and all the mysteries concerning 
health disappear just in proportion to man^s acquaintance with 
this sacred product, its parts and principles, separate, united or in 
action. It is an honor to its Builder who should he respected for the 
perfection set forth and shown by man as a product of Life and its 
constructive intelligence.' ' 

— A. T. Still 



OSTEOPATHY A PREVENTIVE 

number of complex molecules. These molecules, on 
account of the looseness of the combination of their 
atoms, require sufficient crude material brought to 
them to maintain the proper atomic tension. Upon 
this tension is based the resistance to normal or ab- 
normal stimuli. The necessary food for cell protoplasm 
is brought to the cells by blood and lymph. Since cell 
protoplasm is entirely dependent upon the circulating 
media, any disturbance of these media changes the 
metabohsm of the cell, and hence a change in resistance 
results. This resistance may be varied by failure on 
either the arterial or venous side of the general circula- 
tion, resulting in changed lymph circulation. The 
constant removal of kataboUc products (broken down 
tissue), is of as much importance as the constant 
renewal of material for anaboKsm (tissue construc- 
tion).'' 

— Dain L. Tasker, D.O. {Principles of Osteopathy) 

Osteopathy, by recognizing mechanical dis- 
turbances in the body as an interference with the 
local or general cell life of that individual, is able 
by means of corrective treatment to promote 
the normal flow of blood, Ijrmph and nerve forces 
in the body, upon which cell life depends for its 
integrity, and so becomes a most potent factor 
in disease prevention. 

Dr. Geo. W. Riley, in the Britannica Year 
Book (1913), gives a few paragraphs as follows, 
which describe the position of Osteopathy as a 
prophylactic measure: 

[221] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

''Osteopathic prevention or prophylaxis comprises: 
systemic examination for incipient lesions, and their 
correction before function becomes disordered; indi- 
vidual hygiene and right-Kving; pubhc education in 
the correct use of the body to avoid structural injury, 
and in sanitation and all conditions conducive to 
favorable environment of Ufe. It is a complete system 
of the healing art. 

'^ Osteopathy teaches the self-sufficiency of the nor- 
mal vital mechanism. In other than normal conditions 
this principle powerfully manifests itself; the hyper- 
trophy of the heart muscle in valvular insufficiency, 
the heahng of a wound, the recovery of the body from 
'Ught-attack' diseases without any treatment, are all 
instances of the seK-sufficiency of the body to repair 
pathological conditions, traumatic and otherwise. 
Every healed wound, every hunch back, every particle 
of scar tissue, every adhesion, is but a mute witness of 
the self-sufficiency of the mechanism, of the efforts 
of Nature to heal disease, and they bear further witness 
that it was only due to the severe and persistent im- 
pairment of the mechanism of the body that complete 
repair was not effected. The more intensive the study 
of the minute mechanics and functioning of the body, 
the clearer becomes the law of its self-sufficiency. 

'^ The discovery of opsonins and anti-bodies and their 
efficacy, together with that of the thyroid and other 
glandular preparations, is a mark of gradual recognition 
and acknowledgment of the self-sufficiency of the body, 
when normaUzed and mechanically stimulated to the 
maximum exhibition of its reparative and auto- 

[222] 



OSTEOPATHY A PREVENTIVE 

protective processes. One of the missions of Osteop- 
athy is so to normahze and stimulate the vital 
mechanism that it will manufacture in all necessary 
abundance its normal supporting and protecting 
chemical compounds absolutely pure and sterile." 



[223] 



Every system of curing human ills which is 
based on the known facts of anatomy and 
physiology will last, because it is true. When 
systems of drug medication are known only 
as history, Osteopathy will be ministering to 
the human race, because it knows no other 
path than that which leads to greater truths 
in physiology and anatomy. 

— Dain L. Tasker, D.O. 



A DELICATE QUESTION 

[Reprinted by permission from Life] 



A person may be very fluent in words and very 
foolish in practice. 

— A. T. Still 



A theory may do for today and be a clog to the 
foot of progress tomorrow. 

— A. T. Still 



A DELICATE QUESTION 



IS a man's first duty to his own family or to 
his client? 

Take for instance a patient — call him William 
— who is being treated for a disease considered 
incurable. His doctor, of the old school, tells 
him frankly and kindly that the best they can do 
is to hold the disease in check, prolong William's 
life, perhaps, and make his remaining days com- 
fortable. While the treatment is going on, Wil- 
liam begins to hear tales of what the Osteopaths 
are doing. His friends tell him of sudden cures of 
cases resembling his own. William hates quack- 
ery, but as he cannot ignore this testimony, he 
finally mentions the subject to his doctor. His 
doctor, a liberal-minded man, tells William, regret- 
fully that while the Osteopaths, like other quacks, 
produce temporary results that amaze the igno- 
rant, they work far more harm than good; that 
Osteopathy is merely a form of massage at best and 
that William's disease is a deeper matter. Besides 
the osteopathic treatment is rough and often 
dangerous. 

WiUiam is secretly relieved by this information, 
for he hates changes and has no use for all the 
new ^'pathies.'' 

[227] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

But the surprising tales persist in reaching 
him. Even members of his own family relate 
extraordinary cures of seemingly hopeless cases, 
without drugs or surgery. Finally, to make a long 
story short, William, who does want to live, visits 
an Osteopath. He is ashamed, but he does it. 
The theory and treatment, as explained to him, 
certainly seem rational. Moreover, he finds that 
these Osteopaths are curing cases much worse 
than his own. And when William himself is 
cured he blames the old-school doctor for not 
sending him at once to an Osteopath. 

But is William just? 

Is it ever expected that a lawyer, a doctor, an 
architect or any man of standing shall say to his 
client, ^'Go to my rival. He is wiser than I am. 
Give your money to him instead of to me? '' 

In accusing the old-school doctor of fraud, 
William is doubly unfair, as that doctor despises 
the Osteopath and honestly believes him a quack. 
And we all know how easy it is to believe what is 
most desirable. 

William argues, however, that the success of 
Osteopathy now being common knowledge, when 
he pays for advice, the doctor should give whatever 
advice is most likely to lead to a cure. The doctor 
might argue that he gave William what William 
paid for, the best treatment he knew how to give. 

Which is right? 

[228] 



THE RESULTS OF OSTEOPATHIC 
PRACTICE 



NoWj Lord, we beseech Thee, once in a great 
while to pummel our heads with the hailstones 
of reason. 

— A. T. Still 



Osteopathy today represents the substitution of 
spinal treatment for internal medication. It 
has no fight against the bathtub and the diet 
kitchen but against pills and Peruna. 

— Geo. a. Still, M.S., M.D., D.O. 



THE RESULTS OF OSTEOPATHIC 
PRACTICE 

By G. V. WEBSTER, D.O. 



WHEREVER the banner of Osteopathy has 
been raised, victories have been achieved. 
Structural and environmental adjustments have 
been made; suffering has been relieved, and 
individuals have found life more tolerable because 
of osteopathic ministrations. 

The results of osteopathic work in the aggregate 
make a very creditable record. Diseases which 
were considered incurable have yielded to the 
knowledge-guided fingers of the Osteopath. Lives 
which were apparently approaching an end have 
had years of grace added. Many who were in- 
capacitated for the duties of life have been restored 
to full fellowship among their brother workmen. 
The comfort and efficiency of unnumbered thou- 
sands have been increased. As an economic 
proposition, the world has much to thank Oste- 
opathy for, both as a curative and as a preventive 
measure. Of course all suffering has not been 
banished from the human family, and from the 
nature of things cannot be until the end of time, 

[231] 



CONCEENING OSTEOPATHY 

but Osteopathy most certainly is a step toward 
such an ideal. 

The laws of Nature are absolute. They do 
not falter or fail. This is why Osteopathy, in 
releasing from the bondage of abnormal pressure 
the natural forces of the body, secures a definite 
result. The action of the law suspended by the 
abnormal pressure has again been put in operation. 
This result has been repeatedly demonstrated 
clinically and experimentally. Nature with her 
law is constant and trustworthy. Failure may 
be the fault of the physician or of the patient but 
not of the principle of Osteopathy nor of the law 
of Nature, within her limitations. 

^'The diseases that are osteopathically curable, we 
believe, are coextensive with the limit of Nature's 
ability to react to a pathological process, which means 
that this class includes every disease in which the 
pathological process has not advanced to such a stage 
as to be beyond Nature^s own reactive power. In 
other words we believe that this class includes all 
diseases in which Nature has not been perverted 
beyond her limits of compensation. What is curable 
from Nature's standpoint is curable from the standpoint 
of Osteopathy, for we look on them as synonymous." 
''From this standpoint it might be asked why 
Osteopathy is powerful in combating disease. We 
know, from clinical experience, that there is developed 
around the articulations of the vertebrae a tissue- 
perversion either antecedent to or concomitant with 
[ 232 ] 



THE RESULTS OF PRACTICE 

disease of the organism elsewhere. This tissue perver- 
sion is manifested by impaired mobihty of the spine, 
and the restoration of a normal degree of movement 
between the articulations means that the tissues have 
been normalized in this region. Nature wants to be 
used well, and she is able to function perfectly, provided 
she is not taxed beyond her capacity for reaction. By 
restoring normal movement in the spine, we give 
Nature, in very many cases of disease, the necessary 
assistance to enable her to combat the condition suc- 
cessfuUy.'' — Arthur S. HoUis, A.B., B,0. — Bulletin 
of the Atlas Club. 

The osteopathic physician is responsible for 
the results of treatment in so far as the acquisition 
of a knowledge of the normal and abnormal in the 
body is concerned and the exercise of diligence in 
the effort to correct the structural abnormalities. 
The patient, too, has certain responsibilities in 
regard to results which are secondary only to 
those of the physician. If he expects his oste- 
opathic physician to accomplish something for 
him, he must understand that the Osteopath is 
working in harmony with natural laws and must 
have time in which to right the conditions which 
are wrong and to place them in harmony with 
those laws. The patient sometimes forgets that 
the disease may represent the sum of several factors 
which may have been in operation over a long 
period of time and that it takes time to correct 

[233] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

and overcome. In acute diseases, however, the 
results of treatment are quickly noticed; in long- 
standing conditions it may be weeks before definite 
changes can be observed. But whether the results 
are spectacular, as they sometimes are, or come 
only after patient effort on the part of the physi- 
cian and patient, or not at all — when nature has 
been passed in limitations — the sirni of the results 
total a great benefaction to humanity. 

The osteopathic idea being in such close har- 
mony with natural law is revolutionary. Tradi- 
tion has been overthrown by it. The results of 
osteopathic work and education on public thought 
have removed much of the mystery of disease, 
showed the all-sufficiency of unhindered Nature, 
demonstrated that structural perfection is a pre- 
requisite of functional perfection and recognized 
the wisdom of the Creator in establishing definite 
laws of life for his creatures. 

To many individuals who have accepted its 
teachings. Osteopathy has brought greater freedom 
from suffering, from fetich, from experimental 
practice, from dependence upon drugs. For such 
it has created a new view-point of life, a new 
philosophy — a new hope with dependence upon 
Natural Law. 



[234] 



OSTEOPATHY IN THE FUTURE 

FROM AN ADDRESS BY RUSSELL DUANE OF THE 
PHILADELPHIA BAR GIVEN BEFORE A GRAD- 
UATING CLASS OF THE PHILADELPHIA 
COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHY 

[Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the Ameri- 
can Osteopathic Association] 



Since the child Osteopathy has grown to full 
manhood, it has received a hearty welcome, 
just in proportion to the capability of the 
intelligent man or woman to comprehend 
enough of the physical laws to know the reli- 
ability of Nature. 

— A. T. Still 



Use no man^s opinion, accept his works only. 

— A. T. Still 



OSTEOPATHY IN THE FUTURE 

By RUSSELL DUANE 



THE great Doctor Still once said ^^ Osteopathy 
is a science fifty years ahead of the times." 
In the spirit of this remark let us try to forecast 
the future of the profession, and picture to 
ourselves what its stature is likely to be fifty 
years hence after the times have caught up with 
Osteopathy. 

Probably the most characteristic single medical 
thought of our day is the idea that ^^ prevention" 
of diseases is more certain in its result, and in 
every way preferable to an attempted ^^cure." 
Measures of prevention have in recent years 
occupied a position of increasing importance, 
both with our public authorities and with the 
medical profession. By the end of the next half- 
century, with the growth of popular intelligence, 
which may reasonably be expected within that 
time, this idea of ^^ prevention" is likely to control 
the habits and practice of the entire conamunity. 
With that development will naturally come about 
a corresponding progress in those branches of 
medical science and medical art, which have as 

[ 237 ] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

their direct aim the production and maintenance 
of health as contrasted with those branches which 
are merely available to cure existing illness. 

In the science of Osteopathy the element of 
prevention is at least equally prominent with the 
element of cure, and hence Osteopathy is certain 
to share in the progress of popular intelligence 
toward the universal use of preventive measures. 
Osteopathy is well adapted to cure the patient of 
manifold ills; but an even more important func- 
tion of Osteopathy is the removal of causes likely 
to produce ills. Osteopathy aims at catching the 
patient before he becomes too much of a patient. 
Its object is to rectify the iregularities of bony 
structure and tissues before the aberration becomes 
so great as to induce active disease. 

In many cases this physical derangement is so 
slight that the person in question has no conscious- 
ness that anything is wrong, yet there exists in 
that person's organism an ever-present source of 
irritation and disturbance of function, which in 
time may grow to serious proportion. 

At the present moment, the community gener- 
ally does not appreciate the need of having minor 
structural derangements corrected. The field of 
Osteopathy is unfortunately curtailed through the 
ignorance of a large part of the public as to what it 
is, its past history, the scientific theory underlying 
it and the character of the cures which it has 

[238] 



OSTEOPATHY IN THE FUTURE 

effected. Fifty years hence the community will 
recognize the fact that Osteopathy affords the 
most effective means known to medical science 
of correcting physical errors and defects having 
the most untoward possibilities. Today every 
intelligent man recognizes the importance of hav- 
ing detailed scientific care given at stated intervals 
to such portions of the body, for example, as the 
eyes and the teeth, and he recognizes that such 
attention to be efficacious must be given promptly 
and with regularity. In time every man of intelli- 
gence will apply the same wise rule to the remain- 
der of his physical structure, and even when in 
apparent health will seek examination and, if 
necessary, treatment at intervals from his Osteo- 
path with the same care which he now exercises 
as regards his oculist and dentist. 

There is excellent reason to beUeve that the 
growing employment of Osteopathy in the pre- 
vention and cm:e of disease will be accompanied 
during the next half-century by a steadily increas- 
ing application of its methods to cases of trau- 
matism. Osteopathy is peculiarly adapted to 
the relief and cure of injuries occasioned by violent 
accidents. For illustration, I would like to point 
to a case, which came to my knowledge, of a 
patient who sustained disturbance of several 
vertebral joints of the neck as the result of a vio- 
lent fall from a horse. By osteopathic means a 

[239] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

complete cure was effected in less than half an 
hour after the injury, which without it would 
probably have resulted in life-long deformity. 

Now, if Osteopathy is promptly applied to the 
replacement of disturbed members and the restora- 
tion of proper circulation, muscular and nerve 
action, the causes of nervous disturbance may be 
eliminated and a speedy cure accomplishedo 

I now approach the interesting subject of the 
probable relations which will exist fifty years 
hence between Osteopathy and the various indus- 
trial pursuits. In the matter of treatment of 
accidents Osteopathy comes into close relation 
with the practice of my own profession of the law. 
This fact affords to all lawyers an exceptional 
opportunity to promote the welfare of their clients, 
by advising such injiu*ed persons to undergo 
Osteopathic examination and treatment for the 
purpose of curing their injuries. I believe the 
time will come when every well-informed and right- 
thinking lawyer will consider it his duty to his 
client not only to render him the best possible 
legal service, but also to advise him as to the most 
effective means of relieving such physical injuries 
as he has sustained. 

I will also indulge in the prediction that in 
another half a century the great pubUc service 
corporations will keep in their employ a staff of 
Osteopaths whose duty it shall be to administer 

[ 240 ] 



OSTEOPATHY IN THE FUTURE 

treatment to injured passengers, employees and 
other claimants. Such a system today, if well- 
equipped and maintained, would mean life and 
health to thousands of unfortunate victims, and 
reduce the yearly accident bill of the railway 
corporations of the United States many millions 
of dollars. 

I believe that the observed benefits of Osteop- 
athy in the treatment of accident cases will in 
time lead to its general adoption as an important 
element of industrial efficiency in the operation 
of large industrial plants. The ideal future of 
Osteopathy will be realized when every employer 
of labor will regard it as not only his duty, but 
also to his interest, to cause each of his employees 
to be examined by a competent Osteopath, and 
all needed treatment given at the employer's ex- 
pense for the purpose of putting the employee in 
a sound physical condition. A moment's reflec- 
tion will make it obvious that the body of an 
employee is simply a piece of machinery operating 
in a productive process. In more than a dozen of 
its aspects we can compare it, for example, with a 
locomotive or motor-car, although it is infinitely 
more complex because adapted to many more 
uses. If a ^^parf of a locomotive or motor-car 
becomes broken or bent, or there is an ^interfer- 
ence'' of parts, not a moment is lost in taking it 
to the machine shop. The same intelligent care 

[241] 



CONCERNING OSTEOPATHY 

should be applied to the human machine. The 
cost would be a legitimate expense in the conduct 
of business, as legitimate as the expenditure made 
for repairs or oil in the operation of an engine. 
The public will some day realize that very few 
persons ever become ill who have been put in good 
osteopathic condition at a time when they were 
apparently well. 

I also predict that the next half-century will wit- 
ness a constantly increasing association between 
the profession of Osteopathy and public philan- 
thropy. 

I foresee a time when through the instrumental- 
ity of our great public charities, Osteopathic treat- 
ment will be furnished, to those who need but 
cannot get it, as a part of a scientific system to 
accomplish their restoration to, and maintenance 
in, a condition of active industry and economic 
self-help. There will come a time when every 
well-equipped hospital will have its corps of 
osteopathic doctors just as today it has its corps 
of medical doctors and trained nurses. There 
ought to be, and ultimately will be, concurrent 
action and harmony of feeling between the various 
branches of the medical profession now so radically 
divided. In time the medical practitioner will, as 
a matter of course, call in and consult the Osteo- 
path in cases needing his skill, and the Osteopath 
will as freely call in as a consultant the medical 

[242] 



OSTEOPATHY IN THE FUTURE 

practitioner, in order to secure his professional 
aid in such cases as may require it. 

In time Osteopathy, in many classes of cases, 
will probably become the exclusive method of 
treatment recognized and enforced by leading 
practitioners of all schools of medicine. 



. ;, [243] 



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